Generations: the Blue Lions
by Charlotte1
Summary: Alecia Malfoy, Rachel Weasley and Katie Potter are starting their 3rd year at Hogwarts. Violent accidents have spurned the trio and their friends into forming their own Dark Magic fighting organisation. Have they bitten off more than they can chew? R
1. Part One

Title: **Generations: The Blue Lions**

Part III in my Generations series 

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the words and the original characters. The rest of this world belongs to the talented JK Rowling, so please don't sue, I have nothing, I'm a poor student :-)

Summary: Leshia, Katie, Rachel and their friends and enemies are all back for another action-packed year at Hogwarts. After finding out about their parents' secret club, the children vow to find out more about this Order of the Phoenix. Mysterious goings on in the castle has everyone on tenterhooks, and after realising that they are the only ones with the power to stop it (or so they'd like to think) our favourite trio found their own secret club: the Blue Lions. Meanwhile, Draco is struggling to be honest with his wife, while denying her deepest desire: he doesn't know what's happening to him, what if his old self is returning? Leshia is finally catching up with her friends in the development stakes this year, but with a multitude of potential suitors going around, what can she do? And will her friendship with Katie last the year?

With so much going on, you're bound to love Generations: The Blue Lions

**People who will like this story: **Next generation fans, Draco/Hermione fans, fans of my previous stories Finding Home and Tales of the Last Stand…oh come on, give it a try:)

Enjoy…

**Part I**

Leshia Malfoy sighed heavily as she rested back against the crumbling brick wall behind _Flourish and Blotts_ bookshop and lifted her feet up onto an old crate that had once delivered a shipment of Gilderoy Lockhart's _Magical Me_ to the age-old bookshop, if the yellowing label on the side was anything to go by. Feeling tired from the morning's shelf-stacking, Leshia was happy that she finally had some time to herself to enjoy her sandwiches in peace and quiet, without some snivelling little child coming up to her with grubby hands and demanding to know where the new copy of _Daisy Dunce_ was to be found. Daisy Dunce was a muggle, who went on incredibly exciting adventures. All wizard children seemed to adore the character and they had ensured that Daisy Dunce's creator Neville Longbottom was now a very rich man. He had just released the sixth book in the series and children everywhere were going mad just to get their hands on it.

The girl had spent her whole summer, give or take a few weeks of family holidaying in Italy with the Malfoys' closest friends, working at the bookshop to earn some extra pocket money. It had been her mother who had secured her the summer job. Hermione Granger-Malfoy was an avid reader and had been so for many years. The owners of the shop Regus Flourish and Tarquin Blott (direct descendents of the founders of the now renowned bookshop) were really rather fond of the clever witch, and were always happy when she was back in town and would regularly come to visit – often with odd requests.

On the first day of the holidays Hermione had rushed into town to see if she could put in an order for an Ancient Runes textbook that she would be using as a supplementary text in her third year lessons, and had found Regus in the process of placing a 'help wanted' sign in the window. Instantly Hermione had suggested her young daughter, as just the night before Leshia had been telling her parents that she was going to find a job for the summer.

However, when Hermione returned home in high spirits, after putting in her order and procuring a job for her only child, Leshia was not best pleased with the prospect of working and had tried to wheedle out of it, but Draco Malfoy, the girl's long-suffering father, had insisted that she keep to her word, and felt that maybe a little hard graft was exactly what the girl needed. He himself would be working hard all summer for the Ministry of Magic, who insisted on taking advantage of his desire to repent for all his wrongs and often sent him several owls a day with work in need of doing right. Hermione had spent most of the summer travelling to newly discovered Ancient Magical sites and had even been given the privilege of naming a primitive type of cauldron after she had discovered it. The young talented witch was in her element, despite having to spend more time away from her family than she would have liked.

With both her parents constantly occupied, it was fortunate that Leshia had enjoyed a distraction all summer. Flourish and Blotts had never been so organised, as the young girl had reorganised the sections, introduced a reading corner and given the dusty décor a revamp with the aid of her best friends Rachel Weasley and Katie Potter. Eager to avoid a repeat of the previous summer where the girls had spent barely three days together in the long seven-week holiday, the girls had managed to spend quite a lot of time together. Fun-filled weekends at the burrow, lavish and exciting weekends at Potter Manor in the north, and even several weeks of slumber parties, shopping trips and broom racing at the Malfoy townhouse in London. Realising that their friend wasn't able to take too much time off Rachel and Katie had descended on the Malfoys for whole weeks at a time, and much to Draco's horror, they had coincided their visits with periods of Hermione's absence. The girls had driven poor Draco up the wall with their endless giggling, their broomstick races in the hall and their endless tormenting of the houselves.

Giggling fondly as Leshia relived the latest of their antics, which involved driving poor Tally, the head houself of the Malfoy house, to distraction nearly resulting in her resignation, she began to eat her sandwiches alone in the alley behind the shop.

"Afternoon shorty." The girl looked up quickly and her eyes fell on Tobias Dredge: her summer crush. Unbelievably handsome, the twenty-something heartthrob had never found his true calling in life, and had therefore drifted from one job to the next. This particular summer he'd been working alongside Leshia as a courier, delivering books to witches and wizards unable to venture into the nation's capital. The girl had met him two days into her job, when she was on the verge of resigning in an angry tantrum. The moment she laid eyes on Tobias though, she promptly changed her mind, and had spent weeks ogling him, blushing furiously whenever he spoke to her. It would seem, that puberty, had finally smiled on Leshia Malfoy. No longer scrawny and shapeless, the girl still remained skinny, but there was a certain femininity to her tiny body. She had grown perhaps a few inches and was coming to terms with the fact that she was never going to be tall and striking like her friend Katie, and yet, it didn't bother her.

The boys too had started noticing her, much to Draco's bemusement. One particularly lazy Wednesday he'd abandoned his case notes and ambled into town, dead-set on taking his daughter out to lunch. However, as he had walked into the crowded bookshop he had found a gaggle of boys ogling her from behind a bookshelf, talking about certain parts of her body Draco would wish no man to speak about with no discretion. Those boys had left the shop in terror after he'd seen to them, but this certainly was not the end of the father's woes. His daughter was turning out to be a beautiful young lady, and every day he stepped out with her the boys stared.

"Hi Tobias," Leshia managed after quickly swallowing her mouthful of sandwich.

"You skiving or something?" the young man laughed genially as he dropped down opposite her onto another abandoned crate – one that he had no doubt delivered. Leshia swooned as his long ash blonde hair fell into his face.

"Shhh, don't tell," the girl managed with a cheeky grin. Tobias smiled back adoringly and motioned a cross across his chest.

"Cross my heart."

"Speaking of skiving, aren't you supposed to be in Germany?" the girl asked unsurely. All an act of course, she knew exactly where young Tobias Dredge had been every moment of the summer, but she couldn't let him know this.

"Well yeah, but Regus wrote to me last night, they've already run out of damn Daisy Dunce, and he needed another shipment." Leshia rolled her eyes exasperatedly, causing the young man to chuckle. "I bet the kids have been driving you up the wall."

"Leshia?" Both employees suddenly jumped to their feet, while Leshia stuffed her sandwich away and Tobias rushed to lift a crate down from his cart. By the time Tarquin had made it to the alleyway behind the shop, he found two perfectly presentable employees for all pretences actually working. "Oh here you are. Good girl, I was about to tell you to come help Tobias, but I see you've already found each other."

"Got the inner eye this one hasn't she?" Tobias said fondly and he ruffled Leshia's hair. Tarquin chuckled as the girl blushed bright red.

"So it would seem. Oh Leshia, when you're done with that, there's a young man waiting for you in the shop." With this Tarquin disappeared through the door once more leaving Leshia looking intrigued.

"Ooh, a young man eh?" Tobias teased. "Boyfriend?" Leshia continued to blush furiously and she play hit the young man's arm.

"Don't be stupid, I don't even know who it is!" she complained happily, but Tobias continued to tease her as they unloaded the crates into the stock room. Once they'd bid each other goodbye Leshia rushed into the shop and looked around eagerly for someone she recognised. No familiar faces jumped out at her however, so with a heavy heart she made her way to the front of the shop where she'd been putting up a display for the Daisy Dunce release. Perhaps whoever it was had left, fed up of waiting for the girl. Moments later however, Leshia discovered that this had not been the case.

"Guess who," a deep voice spoke aloud from behind the girl as two large hands dropped down over Leshia's eyes. After a pang of panic, Leshia suddenly recognised the voice.

"Parys? Is that you?" she laughed and spun around to see that indeed Parys was standing behind her, with Rodeo at his side grinning dashingly. Boy these two had grown. Parys and Rodeo were the heartthrobs of Leshia's year at school. They were in her house and had been very good friends of hers since first year. "What happened to your voice?" Parys grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"More to the point, what happened to you?" Rodeo cut in sounding surprised and slightly humbled. Leshia turned to look at him with quizzical expression.

"What are you talking about? I haven't changed," she laughed, but to add to her discomfort Parys too stood back and cocked his head to the side as he looked her up and down, trying to figure out what Rodeo had noticed…there was something different about the girl: she looked…stunning. "Stop it," Leshia complained happily and she reached out and shoved Rodeo's arm. "What are you two doing here?"

"Got our booklists didn't we," Parys explained cheerfully as he brandished his Hogwarts letter before the girl. Leshia frowned.

"Funny, I didn't get mine."

"Maybe they've kicked you out, figured this way they might cut their detentions in half," Rodeo suggested with a wicked smile. Leshia laughed and shook her head, but then she stopped and looked alarmed.

"You think?" Both boys laughed.

"No!"

"You probably left too early, we just got ours an hour ago," Parys suggested. With a resigned nod Leshia helped her friends search for the books they needed and then agreed to meet them at the ice cream parlour down the lane when she was done for the day. The rest of the afternoon went by painfully slowly, but finally the girl was given leave to go and she rushed down the road to find her friends buried under a mountain of parcels and packages. She greeted them fondly before getting herself a mint cone and dropping down beside them.

"So, how long have you been working over at Flourish and Blotts?" Rodeo asked cheerfully. Leshia rolled her eyes.

"The _whole_ summer," she grumbled.

"What all summer?" Parys finally exclaimed sounding sympathetic.

"You poor thing!"

"Yeah tell me about it, my mum got me the job and then my dad made me do it because he thought it was…what did he say? Oh yeah…" The girl paused for dramatic effect. "Character building!" The boys laughed jubilantly, watching the girl adoringly. "What did you two slackers do all summer?"

"Well I've been staying with Rodes for three weeks, seeing how the other half live," Parys explained, before he grimaced and shook his head. "I wouldn't recommend it. Muggles have to do everything by hand!"

"Shut up you freeloader, you enjoyed yourself," Rodeo laughed and he punched his best friend's arm to silence him. "Especially the TV."

"You don't have a television?" Leshia asked in surprise. Parys grinned wryly and shook his head. "But I thought your dad was a muggle?"

"Yeah well he is, but mum is so against muggle contraptions that she never let him have one installed," the boy said with a sigh.

"God Parys, how do you manage?" Leshia laughed. "We have a muggle room in our house, dad doesn't really like to go in there, except when they're showing war films on TV, those he'll make an exception for."

"Yeah all right, no need to rub it in," Parys laughed. "So where are your little friends?"

"Charming," Rodeo interrupted with a grin, and Leshia felt herself feel indescribably irritated for a second or two. He was no doubt concerned over what Katie had been doing, and whether or not she was still going to be falling head over heels for him.

"Well it's true," the darker haired boy laughed. "They normally follow this one round like lap dogs."

"Parys!" Leshia laughed. "They're at home, where else would they be?"

"Hiding in your shadow?" Parys suggested cheerfully; he, unlike Rodeo, found Leshia's best friends to be trying. Rachel he liked to a certain extent, but found her to be a little too unpredictable. Katie however, was a different story, though perhaps his dislike for her came from her intense like for his best friend.

"Just shut up Parys," Rodeo complained, sounding on the verge of getting annoyed. The dark haired boy rolled his eyes and sighed, but soon another charming grin had wrangled its way onto his handsome face.

"Have you heard yet who's made quidditch captain?" Leshia shrugged her shoulders.

"No," she said simply. "It's definitely not going to be me for sure."

"Ah why not? You're a great little seeker," Rodeo countered.

"Yeah but I'm in third year that's why," Leshia complained, pulling a face at the boy for calling her little. It didn't help her case that now both boys had shot up like beanpoles, she was little in comparison. "It'll probably be Mila in sixth year, she's the most experienced. We have to replace three players you know, that's how many left at the end of last year. Where we're going to find them I don't know."

"Well there's us," Parys said cheerfully, and he slung his arm around Rodeo's shoulders while puffing out his chest proudly.

"No offence boys, but we need to find people who can actually play," Leshia countered with a big smile on her face. Her teasing was instantly rewarded by being dragged into the crook of Parys arm while Rodeo ruffled her hair with both his hands, so by the time they released the giggling girl, she looked like she'd climbed through a hedge backwards.

"Thank you very much, now I'm going to have to go home and spend the next ten hours straightening my hair," the girl said fondly, trying to calm down her wild curls with her hands. Rodeo and Parys weren't grinning anymore though; their eyes had drifted over Leshia's head towards the tall imposing figure that was stalking through the crowds towards them. As though a sensor had gone off in Draco's head notifying him that boys were touching his precious daughter, the tall blonde man had suddenly appeared on the scene wearing a dangerously pleasant expression. It was his slightly narrowed eyes that gave his protectiveness away, and without realising it, the two young men inched away from the girl they had just play-assaulted.

"What?" Leshia, who was yet to realise her father had arrived on the scene, asked the boys with a frown. "I don't smell!" Her friends didn't even smile, and only now did Leshia realise they were looking over her head, and after quickly peering over her shoulder she saw why. "Hi," she said to her father with a small frown, what was wrong with him?

"I've been sent to get you, we've been invited to the Potter's for a barbeque. Everyone's going to be there," her father told her simply. Leshia grinned triumphantly.

"Oh cool," she said cheerfully.

"Well come on then," Draco said obviously, though his expression softened. Leshia beamed at him, before she turned round to smile at her friends

"See you next week boys," she told them happily.

"Yeah, bye," the two youngsters managed uneasily, still watching the unpredictable Defence Against the Dark Arts professor anxiously, as though he were about to either set them a month's detention, or bite their heads off. With this Leshia jumped to her feet and joined her father's side, who was still looking at the young men through narrowed eyes.

"Dad!" Leshia complained.

"What?" Draco complained innocently, and he allowed himself to be dragged away from the two incredibly relieved boys. As father and daughter disappeared into the crowds the two best friends still sat at the table turned to one and other with wide eyes, both thinking the exact same thing; if they were ever lucky enough to make it to the 'more than friendship' stage with that girl, then they would have to fear for their lives.

"You can't go around glaring at all my friends dad, it's intimidating," Leshia complained fondly as her father escorted her through the busy afternoon crowds.

"But it's so entertaining," Draco chuckled and he grinned down at his thirteen-year-old daughter fondly. "Besides, I can't have them losing respect…"

"Fear," his daughter cut in warmly.

"…For me outside of school can I?" Leshia rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to get into a debate about the Professor Malfoy persona her father adopted during school hours. It would seem that during his teaching hours the young man took his personality characteristics and increased them tenfold to the point that most students adored and feared the teacher; his brusque and unpredictable nature even scared Leshia sometimes, as it reminded her of his manner when she'd been incredibly naughty. It was turning into a gloriously balmy summer evening, and both father and daughter were in exceptionally high spirits as they made the short walk from Diagon Alley to their beautifully homely townhouse in the centre of London.

Hermione was carefully arranging a vast platter of shrimp and various garlic sauces as Leshia and Draco walked in. Dressed in a pretty yellow linen summer dress that accentuated the tan she had recently built up from a dig site in the south of France, Hermione looked positively radiant, and her ethereal image caught the breath in Draco's chest.

"Seafood?" Leshia asked warily as the smell of the fresh shrimp met her nose. "Will there we anything else mum?" Her mother laughed warmly and nodded to her fussy daughter.

"Yes, don't you worry, we won't let you starve," she chuckled, before adding the finishing touches to her glorious platter. Once she had covered it with a large muslin cloth she walked through and planted a firm kiss on her husband's cheek. "Thank you darling," she told him adoringly; he had been very reluctant to walk all the way to Diagon Alley just to fetch their wayward daughter, who ought to have been home as soon as her shift finished.

"I had to trawl up and down that street ten times looking for her," he complained mockingly.

"No you didn't, you…" Leshia began with a frown, but her father quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

"Oh you poor thing," Hermione laughed lovingly, before she kissed her husband tenderly. At their side Leshia squirmed away from her father, casting her parents a highly disgruntled look.

"Do you have to do that in front of the minors?" she complained with a shudder, before rushing over to the stairs in order to escape and to plan her outfit. Ever since the young girl had started to feel pleased (rather than dismayed) by what she saw in the mirror, she had gone on a clothes-buying splurge. All the extra money she had been earning from the bookshop had definitely come in handy, and as such the young girl's wardrobe had never seemed so packed full of clothes. Leshia was quite adamant though (after her father had started teasing her) that she had not turned into a girly girl; she merely pointed out that it is in one's best interest to look as good as one can…without going overboard. The girl had flat-out refused to buy anything Katie had suggested on one of their many shopping trips. It would seem that Katie's fashion sense had taken an extreme turn towards the rather smaller variety of clothing available and most of the time Leshia and Rachel felt she was dressed rather like a tramp.

Ginny Potter, Katie's worried mother, evidently agreed with the girls and had started curbing Katie's buying habits, by stopping her pocket money and only buying clothes when she, or any other responsible adult (often Hermione) was present. So now the young girl stood before her massive wardrobe, deeply considering her options. Ten minutes later and she was dressed in a pair of cropped jeans and a little yellow T-shirt she hadn't been able to resist two days ago on the muggle high street, covered by a thin white cardigan. After pulling on some clunky sandals she picked up a book she'd promised to buy Katie (who was trying to get some pre-term reading in – much to the amusement of her less-conscientiously minded friends) and ran down to find her parents in the exact same position she had left them in.

"Ah hem," the girl cleared her voice loudly. "You know some of us have a barbeque to get to."

"Do we have to?" Draco asked. Hermione laughed lovingly at her husband, but eventually pulled free in order to take the freshly baked loaves of bread she had made out of the oven.

"Are you trying to pretend you're actually growing?" Draco asked, turning on their daughter and gently nudging her platform sandal with his foot. Leshia grinned and shrugged.

"If it works," she said cheerfully. "And besides, I have grown, you know I have!"

"Nope, sorry," Draco said lightly, a big smile on his face. In truth, he was refusing to accept that his once little girl was finally growing up into a lovely young woman. All he saw when he looked on her face was the mischievous smile he'd come to love (and fear, because it often meant trouble) over the years. She was _his_ little girl, and that's all that mattered, whether she liked it or not.

"Really dad, if you want a baby, why don't you just have another one?" the girl grumbled fondly, before she rushed into the kitchen to help her mother with a veritable mountain of bread sticks and loaves, leaving her father chewing on the insides of his cheeks in the hall. This had been an issue he and Hermione had been discussing a lot recently. They were still young, only thirty-four years old; so there would be time to have another child…or two or three (if Hermione was to have her way). However, Draco seemed incredibly reluctant on the idea and he couldn't even explain it himself. In part he knew they'd been lucky with the way Leshia turned out. All throughout Hermione's pregnancy (the bit that he was witness too) and throughout most of Leshia's babyhood, the young man had feared greatly for his child. What if she turned out the way he had when he was a youngster? Could he bear to have a child like he had once been? He knew he didn't want to subject that on Hermione; he would never subject that on anyone he cared about.

Of course he knew that it was how you reared a child that greatly determined how they turned out, but you could never be sure. What if the Malfoy genes were just a rotten bunch? All in all Draco had been hugely relieved when it turned out that Leshia wasn't vindictive and cruel like he was as a boy. Yes she had inherited many Malfoy characteristics, and many of them weren't good, but she wasn't evil, as he believed he had once been. What if they didn't get so lucky a second time round?

"Draco come on, we're going, will you please get the cupboard?" Hermione's voice came, which was immediately followed by,

"What cupboard?"

"Never you mind," Draco called out quickly, before his wife had a chance to reply, and he quickly went into his office, returning moments later with a small cabinet in his hands. As he entered the kitchen Leshia watched him curiously.

"That's barely a nightstand, it's not a cupboard," she complained, with a brow furrowed in thought.

"Do I have to fiddle with your brain, didn't you hear me? I said never you mind," Draco said firmly and he quickly grabbed a basket full of bread and a handful of floo powder and the next moment he was gone. Leshia frowned at Hermione for answers.

"It really is best if you don't ask questions," the young woman told her daughter. "Now take these and be careful not to drop them." After being handed a platter of shrimp, Leshia took her handful of floo powder and stepped into the grate.

"Potter Manor," she said clearly, before throwing her powder to the floor. After the uncomfortable sensation of travelling over the floo network Leshia appeared in the hallway of the grand house that was Potter Manor.

"Leshia!" the voices of Katie and Rachel came from the landing up above and after having her shrimp platter extricated from her arms by a jubilant Ginny, Leshia was suddenly overcome by her friends' exuberant embraces.

"Ughh, you smell like fish," Rachel complained and quickly darted back with a cheeky grin.

"It's not me you idiot, it _is_ fish," she said pointing to the large platter, which was currently being taken away into the kitchen. "Anyway, there's more important matters at hand," the young girl said and dragged her friends over to the side of the hall. "Did you see my dad appear?"

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago," Rachel replied.

"Was he carrying a little cabinet thing?" Leshia asked intently, and once more she got an affirmative reply. "Where did he go with it?"

"Dad's study," Katie explained. "He and dad seemed in a hurry too, like they didn't want us to see it." After a few moments frowning Leshia smiled mischievously at her friends.

"Let's investigate." After deciding that it was probably wise to wait until their parents were less vigilant and enjoying the good food, the girls abandoned the cabinet quest and headed out into the glorious sunny evening, where the many offspring of the Weasleys were playing with Michael, Katie's younger brother. After agreeing that they were far too mature to join in the game, and too shy to go and interrupt the conversation the older youngsters were having down by the pond, the girls squeezed into the hanging bench swing together.

"You know, you've got the most amazing garden," Leshia said after a comfortable silence. Her words were possibly an understatement, as the Potter estate stretched for acres, encompassing a small wood and even a lake down towards the southern grounds. "This would be a great place to throw a party."

"My parents do," Katie exclaimed pointedly. "All the blimming time!"

"All right, keep your hair on," Leshia laughed. "I was just saying…"

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry, it's just the amount of parties they've had here over the years has driven me a little potty."

"Well we've been to loads," Rachel countered.

"Well no, your parents have, you two come to maybe one percent of the parties my parents throw, trust me." It would seem this was a sore spot for Katie, so Rachel quickly made a drastic u-turn in the conversation.

"We're going into town tomorrow to get our books," she said cheerfully. "Are you going to have any time off to see us?"

"Maybe, come round one, then I'll be on my lunch break. Oh yeah, Rodeo and Parys came round today, God they've grown. Parys even sounded so much like a man that I didn't even know it was him."

"Aww, did the ickle boy's voice break?" Rachel teased, trying to cover up for the dreamy look that had suddenly crossed Katie's face. She had hoped that her cousin's attraction for Rodeo would have diminished over the summer, but evidently, absence had made the heart grow fonder and Katie was as infatuated as ever. This was the most difficult of situations for the red-haired girl, having both of her best friends fancy the same boy. In truth she felt that Leshia had befriended him first and therefore ought to have first dibs, but Katie seemed to be more aware of her feelings, and perhaps was in a better position to act on them… All in all it was far too complicated to think about too often, as it made the girl's head hurt.

"He looked really good," Leshia said simply.

"And Rodeo?" Katie asked in a rather pitiful attempt at a carefree tone. Leshia turned slowly to look at the raven-haired girl and raised her eyebrows.

"Rodeo? He was the same as ever I guess," she replied. "I think Parys might be better looking than him now." An awkward silence filled the bench swing while the girls watched the children down the other end of the garden playing with the carefree bliss of the summer holidays.

"So have you two found out any more on the Order of the Phoenix?" Leshia asked curiously, forcing her petulance away and trying to act more mature now she was in third year. Her friends shook their heads glumly. Ever since Leshia had found out about the Order of Phoenix from her mad grandfather (and ever since she had told her friends the moment they had some privacy) the trio of mischievous girls had been trying to find out about this elusive group their parents were members of.

"I couldn't find anything at the Grand Library down Diagon Alley," Katie sighed. "I looked for four hours and found absolutely nothing! I could however, tell you the ins and outs of phoenix care, phoenix spotting and phoenix legends…"

"That's okay thanks," Leshia chuckled. "We'll pass."

"Thought as much," Katie sighed.

"I suppose because they're still operating they're trying to keep themselves secret," Leshia guessed with a shrug.

"But that sucks, because that means we can't find anything out about them!" Rachel grumbled.

"Well no, it just means we have to be smarter," Leshia countered with a shifty grin on her pretty face.

"Leshia! Do you have a plan?" Katie asked sounding surprised. The small blonde girl grinned and shook her head.

"No, not yet, but I'm working on one." A small look of doubt crossed the girl's face and she looked down to the ground. Katie and Rachel exchanged a worried glance; Leshia had been doing this all summer and it often coincided with discussions about the Order of the Phoenix. It was as though it had a connection unbeknownst to the two girls that had the uncanny ability to depress their friend.

Leshia had not told them the other half of the story. Her grandfather had not only told her about the Order, but he had done so in relation to some awful news about her father. Draco Malfoy had been a traitor; a traitor responsible for the deaths of many good wizards. The thought of it made Leshia feel sick to her stomach, so much so, that she hadn't even been able to confide in her friends. Most of her was still clinging to the hope that it was all a lie and that her grandfather had been trying to turn her against her father, but there was a niggling feeling at the back of her head that was telling her it was no lie.

"Hey Leesh!" The girls looked up to see Tom and Luke, cousins of one another and of Katie and Rachel (the Weasleys had grown to such proportions that now they could be called a clan). The pair of troublemakers were following in their uncle Fred and George's footsteps and were well known for being the troublemakers of the school. They were also similar to their predecessors in that they were the beaters on the Gryffindor quidditch team, of which Leshia was the seeker.

"Have you heard? Mila made captain!" Luke told the girl happily and he dropped down on top of the girls, squashing them quite thoroughly.

"Luke! Get off you great lump!" Rachel laughed wildly.

"Hey, that looks like fun!" Tom cheered and he quickly joined his cousin in squashing the girls. All five of them were laughing wildly and after a brief struggle in which the pair of fifteen-year-olds ticked them mercilessly, a creaking sound indicated the eminent crashing of the bench to the ground. The youngsters managed to scramble off just in time and then lined up, staring down at the broken bench with disgruntled expressions.

"Damn," Tom finally laughed and he slapped his best friend across the back of the head. "You're it!" With this he charged off with his cousin in pursuit.

"Come on, let's go tell dad we broke the bench," Katie told her friends with a grimace.

"It's easily fixed, he won't be mad," Leshia reassured the girl comfortingly, and the three girls traipsed inside. Their mothers were busy cooking in the kitchen along with the other women who had married into the Weasley family. Molly Weasley, or more commonly known as Grandma Weasley these days, seemed to be in charge and she was running a tight ship in her daughter's grand kitchen. The men of the family were enjoying the billiard room where a strange drinking billiards competition had started up. Draco, Ron and Harry were notably absent.

"Maybe they're still in my dad's study," Katie suggested and after a shrug the girls started off towards the large study Harry had fashioned at the end of the house.

"Wait," Leshia said quickly and she grinned sneakily at her friends. "Do you have the invisibility cloak Katie?" The dark haired girl frowned.

"Yes," she said warily, already guessing what her shorter friend was thinking. "Leesh really, you want to go snooping? What happened to wanting to have a calm year this time round? I don't think my heart could take any more adventure!" The other two sniggered in a most unladylike manner, before they headed for the stairs with Katie in pursuit.

"Okay, I'll get it for you," she called after them before they had the chance to go rooting through her things almost certainly disrupting the precious equilibrium of her room. She managed to beat her friends to her door and then insisted they wait outside with their muddy shoes while she fetched it.

"She's getting more and more neat-freaky every time we're here," Leshia whispered to Rachel with a big grin. The redhead rolled her eyes and sniggered.

"Tell me about it," she chuckled.

"I just did," the blonde girl countered cockily.

"Oh ha ha smart arse," Rachel giggled and she launched into a tickling attack on her best friend.

"All right you two, break if up," Katie admonished her friends fondly as she showed them the cloak. "Let's put it on now, our parents know what it looks like remember? They'll know what we're up to." The girls agreed and after checking the coast was clear, Katie flung the cloak around the three of them and they started to shuffle down the stairs towards Harry's study. It took them five minutes to get there, when it normally only would have taken one, but as they neared they realised the effort was worth it: their fathers were speaking in hushed secretive voices. The girls exchanged excited expressions under the cloak and then approached the door, which lay conveniently open – evidently the three men were convinced none of the children would be wandering around indoors on such a beautiful day.

Leshia gasped in surprise when she saw what had previously been a small cabinet now looming as a giant ancient cupboard. Her father had evidently placed a shrinking spell on the cupboard in order to transport it easily to the Potters'.

"And you're sure it's been completely fixed," Harry was saying to Draco while Ron walked around the cupboard in amazement. Draco looked tiredly to Harry.

"Yes Potter, I'm sure it's fixed," he repeated. "Besides, it wasn't this end that was the problem, it was fixing the spells on the Hogwarts end. After that…incident…McGonagall had it warped. They couldn't destroy it because of the magic surrounding it, but she did change the spellwork so it wouldn't transport so much as…obliterate."

"Ouch," Ron exclaimed with a wince. "That could be a nasty mix up." Draco nodded in agreement.

"It's all fine now though," he explained.

"You're absolutely sure?" Harry checked once more. Leshia could see her father was getting extremely exasperated with the two men. Even though now they were able to call one another 'friends', the young girl was well aware of the short tether Draco's patience inhabited when he was around these two best friends.

"Potter just get in there already," Draco complained and he opened the door shoving Harry inside.

"And hope that Malfoy's as capable as he lets on," Ron chuckled. Draco shot Ron an amused glare, before he grinned to Harry.

"Ready?" he asked cheerfully.

"Well…" Harry began, but before he could express his concerns Draco had shut the cupboard doors behind him. For a few moments Draco and Ron waited in silence – Draco's hands still clutching the door handles, his knuckles going slightly white (Leshia alone could see he was nervous and she hoped for a moment that he hadn't been lying when he told them the cupboard, whatever it did, had been fixed – memories of his earlier betrayal had cast doubts over his character…was he still working for the dark Lord? Was he still trying to kill everybody?) – until finally a muffled knocking sound could be heard and Draco opened the doors to welcome a flurry of black leather-winged activity.

"Bats!" Ron cried out as the hoard of disgruntled flying beasties swarmed around the room preceding Harry, who came stumbling out of the cupboard.

"It's Hogwarts all right! We've done it!" he cried triumphantly. "This will act as a perfect emergency entrance and exit should…"

All three men turned to stare in the direction of the door, which had moments earlier acted as an escape route for the hoard of bats that had evidently taken up residence in the cupboard on the 'Hogwarts end'. In time with their fathers, Rachel and Leshia turned to glare sternly at Katie, who had moments previously let out a scream as the bats collided with their hidden bulk. Within a few strides the men had closed in on their location, and Harry, well aware of the trick, reached out blindly until his fingers closed around the cloak. As he pulled it off the three surprised fathers met the angelic faces of their daughters, who were trying very desperately to appear entirely angelic.

"What are you doing?" Harry demanded, managing to sound angry through his surprise.

"Well…I…we…we…." Katie stammered, while Rachel hung her head and stared at her feet and Leshia met her father's eye guiltily.

"When are you three going to learn?" Harry continued. "Haven't you had enough adventures to last you a lifetime?" The girls didn't respond. "Katie go up to your room." The sternness in Harry's tone terrified Katie, who felt vulnerable enough about her relationship with her father without all this to make it worse. After a tearful glance to her friends she scarpered, dragging the cloak with her. Harry looked incredibly saddened and guilty, but he followed in her wake to go and tell Ginny what had happened and why Katie would not be joining them for dinner.

"Come on Rachel, you can help your grandma in the kitchen," Ron told his own daughter, failing severely in the 'stern' department, but managing to convey his disappointment nonetheless. Rachel felt tears welling up in her own eyes; she and Ron had been each other's support this summer, which saw more arguments between Ron and lavender, Rachel's mother (who was on the brink of walking out on her family), than ever. She hated upsetting him. The girl went peaceably without so much as a glance at Leshia who was still watching Draco worriedly. As Rachel and Ron disappeared down the corridor Draco seemed to consider what he was going to do. His expression wasn't quite mad, but it was definitely bemused.

"I'm beginning to think there's something wrong with your hearing," he finally told the girl darkly, as he reached behind himself and shut the door, blocking out the view of the cupboard that had caused all the grief.

"Dad I'm sorry!" Leshia quickly spluttered.

"You're always sorry Leshia," Draco complained, a hint of anger entering his voice. "Why can't you just behave yourself for once huh?" Leshia looked to the ground dejectedly and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know," she grumbled. "This is how you made me, you can't complain!"

"Yes," Draco countered firmly. "I can. I've raised you to respect me, and when I tell you not to interfere with something then you had damn well better listen." The pair lulled into silence while Leshia chewed on the insides of her mouth and seemingly studied her father's feet intently.

"I'm taking you home," Draco finally said, breaking the silence and he took hold of Leshia's arm and started leading her back to the hearth in the kitchen. In the corner Rachel was being told off sternly by her grandmother, with Ron standing by nodding every once in a while evidently not following his mother's rant. Lavender wasn't coming till late evening, and even then, he doubted she would care enough to punish the girl, so had gone for the fairest disciplinarian he had ever met: his mother. Ron himself was incapable of discipline.

Hermione had been listening in to what Ron told Molly and felt secretly dismayed that the evening was ruined, because surely Draco was going to be furious with Leshia. Her fears were confirmed when Draco walked in with Leshia by his side, his expression thunderous and Leshia with her head hanging.

"Draco?" Hermione questioned sounding concerned.

"I think we should send Leshia home for the evening," Draco told his wife in a 'please-don't-argue-with-me-on-this-one' expression and so Hermione nodded.

"Okay," she sighed, before looking down at Leshia with a disappointed face. "I'll come with you so that I can ask Tally to make you some tea." Leshia sighed and nodded, yet was secretly relieved when her father let her arm go. She knew he would never ever lay a finger on her, but she didn't like being frog marched around by her arm, it was so degrading and humiliating. Draco and Hermione exchanged an unreadable look, before he stalked from the room.

"Come on," Hermione sighed and she reached out for some floo powder and handed it to her daughter. "After you."

Once back home Leshia sat down at the kitchen table while Hermione hailed Tally and instructed her to make her daughter some dinner. Leshia felt entirely rotten; she had spoiled the evening for her parents. She knew that neither Hermione nor Draco would enjoy the barbeque terribly now. Finally, after an exasperating conversation with Tally (the elf didn't terribly like Hermione, because the young woman was constantly trying to force rights and benefits on the elf, which Tally took as an insult) Hermione returned to her daughter and after a moment's hesitation she sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her young daughter.

"I know that it's not entirely your fault darling," she said gently. "We never should have shown you that damn thing, of course you were going to be curious." Leshia sighed and nodded. "But that doesn't mean that you were right to go spying on your father Leshia. You know how much he wants us to respect his privacy." The awful gut churning feeling Leshia had been ignoring all summer was back. She desperately wanted to tell her mother about what Lucius had told her, but she was terrified of breaking up her parents' gloriously perfect marriage. Hermione and Draco seemed so suited to one another Leshia was sure they must have consumed love potion at some stage in their relationship.

"I know," the girl sighed. "Do you think he'll forgive me?"

"Of course he will, don't be silly," Hermione chuckled. "I must ask you though Leshia, don't go snooping into this matter any more do you understand?" Her mother looked so serious and so disappointed that Leshia nodded quickly. "Good girl," Hermione said with a smile and she kissed her daughter's forehead. "I have to get back, I'm sorry you can't join us sweetheart."

"It's okay mum," Leshia said with a forced smile, that she managed to keep on he face until her mother had disappeared through the grate.

"Damn," Leshia grumbled and she climbed to her feet, rushing up the stairs two at a time until she had reached her room and dropped down at her desk. Without thinking she took out a pad of paper and a muggle pencil and started to sketch the cupboard as best as she could. After ten minutes she was satisfied that her drawing matched the real version, so she folded the paper carefully and stuffed it inside her diary; well, diary in the sense that that's what was emblazoned upon the front cover, and diary in the sense that Katie had given it to her as a gift from France a few summer's ago with the hope that Leshia would take to writing, but it wasn't a diary in any other sense. Occasionally she wrote down some thoughts in it, but in truth, Leshia wasn't the writing kind. It would however serve well to hide things in; surely her father wouldn't look through her diary?

XXX

"She's asleep," Hermione said softly as she walked back into the room she shared with her husband, where he was currently undressing for bed. Draco nodded once indicating he'd heard her, but that he didn't want to make a response. His silence upset Hermione, who turned her back on Draco in order to change.

"I know you think I'm overreacting," Draco said softly, finally deigning to share his feelings on this matter with his beloved wife. "But if Leshia looks into the cupboards and what they're capable of, then she might find out about…" He trailed off and gulped heavily. In an instant Hermione felt complete love, adoration and sympathy for her husband. How could she have been so short-sighted? He was afraid of his precious daughter finding out about the chaos and tragedy he had caused with those cupboards in their sixth year at school.

"She won't find out about that Draco, nobody knows about that," she assured him gently. Draco looked up at her with a worried frown.

"But what if she does? She's getting older now, and if she finds out about even half the things I got up to in school she's going to hate me." Hermione smiled and shook her head, sidling over to him and draping her arms around his strong bare shoulders.

"She couldn't hate you," she assured him and kissed him gently, reassuringly. After a few moments he returned her embrace and thanked his lucky stars for the umpteenth time that he had wooed this enchanting woman. She meant everything to him.

"She already has once, you forget," he said into her shoulder. Hermione frowned worriedly; yes, she had heard the story of Leshia's period of ignoring her father in her first year at Hogwarts, and in comparison to Draco's misdoings, that had been over something relatively mild. Would she hate her father if she found out how different he had been when they were younger? She was a Malfoy, and every now and then she displayed the worst of her father's family's genes. When she was a lot younger she had been a very unforgiving child; if somebody wronged her, she was very slow to grant forgiveness.

"Draco…" Hermione said softly as her husband kissed the line of her collarbone. "I've been thinking…" In an instant Draco had pulled away from her.

"Oh no," he groaned. "That can't be good."

"Hey," Hermione complained indignantly, though her eyes were smiling fondly at her husband. "You know how we were talking last week about…well, about…" Draco frowned worriedly.

"About what?"

"About having another baby. Well, have you had a chance to think about it?" Draco watched his wife's expression turn hopeful and he opened and shut his mouth several times in an attempt to respond, but no words escaped.

"I need more time," he managed eventually sounding apologetic. "I'm sorry," he added when he saw the disappointment fill Hermione's pretty face. "It's a big decision, not one that I can make my mind up over within a few weeks." Hermione sighed and nodded, donning a false smile.

"I know, I'm sorry I'm pushing you," she said softly, secretly screaming on the inside. It was different for Draco, he had been there throughout Leshia's entire childhood, but Hermione had missed out on six years of her daughter's life. She had missed the most important part of Leshia's life; when she started to flourish into her own little self, when she started to find out who she was… It was all too painful to bear when she thought of how much she had missed. Hermione so desperately wanted another child it actually hurt when she thought of her impending birthday. Thirty-four years old…the clock was ticking. If she was going to have two more children, as she desperately desired, then now was the time.

She couldn't possibly understand Draco's reluctance; he was so mortified at Leshia's growing up and turning into a young woman that surely having a new child to baby was the perfect solution? He so desperately wanted Leshia to stop growing up and preferably start turning into the little girl she used to be, that it was entirely confusing as to why he wouldn't want to try for another little girl, or the son Hermione had wanted her whole life.

XXX

The following morning Leshia woke early and changed into some jeans, a T-shirt and her muggle trainers, before she stuck her hair up into a ponytail and sprinted downstairs. Despite waking up ridiculously early, she was already late for work and for the umpteenth time she wondered why on earth she was still at this job, was it worth all this hassle?

"Morning!" she called out cheerfully as she came bursting into the kitchen to find both her parents already up and enjoying their respective morning papers; the Galleon Review for Draco, and the Magical Archaeologist for Hermione.

"Good morning darling, you're going to be late," Hermione said fondly as Leshia rushed over to the table and gulped down a glass of orange juice.

"Yeah I know, gotta go," she said simply, and after snatching up a piece of toast she headed for the front door. "Bye!" she called to her parents and then she was gone, leaving them exchanging a fond look. Leshia positively sprinted the five-minute journey to the Leaky Cauldron, where she burst in, knocking the drink out of an old Warlock's hands.

"I'm so sorry!" she spluttered, before she fished some coins out of her pocket and shoved it into the Warlock's hands. "Here you go! I'm so sorry!" This was all she had time for before she sprinted through the crowded pub to the back garden. Luckily the gateway into Diagon Alley had just been opened and she squirmed in before it had the chance to close on her.

"Leshia!" Tarquin called to the young girl as she came careening through the doors of Flourish and Blotts.

"I'm so sorry Mr Blott," she panted when she reached his side, finally allowing herself to catch her breath. Old Tarquin Blott chuckled fondly at the girl.

"That's quite all right Leshia, it's been quiet this morning anyway. Tobias has been filling in for you." Leshia looked up in surprise and found Tobias grinning at her from behind the counter. She grinned back while blushing bright red and wiped the crumbs of her toast-on-the-go from her chin. Leshia was about to make up some elaborate excuse for her tardiness when the chime of the door opening rang out.

"Oh a customer, off you go Leshia," Tarquin said jovially and he went off into the back room. Leshia turned around to see who she was going to help, only to find that the person she had least wanted to see was standing in the doorway looking around with an incredibly bemused expression.

"Oh no," she whispered to herself as across the shop Damian Allseyer, her arch enemy, locked eyes on her and matched her grim expression. Aware that Tarquin was watching her from the stock room, wondering why she hadn't rushed forward to help the customer, Leshia set her jaw firmly and walked forward. Behind the pointy-faced youngster stood his parents. The woman, Mrs Gemima Allseyer was a portly short ugly thing dressed in a shapeless dress accented by an ugly fur stole, and at her side stood an even shorter still gentleman, with an identical figure to that of his wife, dressed in a suit too tight across his bulging chest and with a filthy little moustache sitting on his upper lip. This was Alistair Allseyer, a coward who had never associated himself publicly with Voldemort, but now all other death eaters had been eradicated fancied himself rather the man about town. Last year Leshia had caught him berating her father on his teaching practice, as such, she hated the pathetic little man.

Allseyer was looking very pink from his summer in the sun, and yet it did nothing to soften his features. He wasn't unattractive, but due to the unpleasant expressions he always wore any appeal to his fine features wore off before you had the chance to form a positive opinion of his appearance. At this moment in time he was scowling at Leshia, wondering why she was approaching him in public while he was out with his parents. Surely she wasn't going to try anything?

"Can I help you?" Leshia asked hurriedly and in monotone, trying not to express any of the anger she felt at seeing Allseyer in her territory.

"What?" Damian demanded.

"Damian," the boy's mother complained. "Yes," she told the girl in a bemused way. "Here, we're after these." Leshia took the list, trying to ignore Damian Allseyer's glare.

"I'll get them right away, they'll be at the counter," she said hurriedly and rushed off with the book list she too had received: the third yearbooks they required. With a sigh of dismay she saw that Allseyer too was taking Divination and Muggle Studies, two of her subjects. It seemed the only place she would stand a chance of avoiding him was in Ancient Runes. After thanking her lucky stars that Hermione had guilt-tripped her into taking her subject Leshia went about collecting the books, noticing each time she glanced at the family, that Damian was speaking in rushed tones to his parents, constantly jerking his head in her direction.

"Damn," Leshia groaned as she collected the last book on the list and made her way to the counter were Tobias was counting up the bill.

"So," Damian said cheerfully as Leshia placed the books down on the counter for Tobias to count up; the girl blushed furiously, so, the wretched Slytherin was going to embarrass her in front of Tobias was he?

"I'm sorry, but I'm very busy," Leshia tried.

"Oh, so you don't want your tip?" Gemima scowled at the girl. Leshia felt torn: to receive the tip she had earned, or to run, giving Allseyer no chance to embarrass her in front of the most good looking man alive.

"Um…well yes thank you madam that would be very kind of you," Leshia forced and she stood rooted to the spot while Gemima Allseyer slowly rifled through her purse. This gave Damian Allseyer the chance to taunt the girl and he grinned broadly.

"Slaving after more deserving wizards are you?" he jeered. At the counter Tobias briefly stopped tapping in the prices to stare at the boy with a frown. "I'm surprised a prize establishment such as this one would hire a blood-traitor like you…" The cash register slammed shut and Leshia dared to glance up to find Tobias was glaring at the youngster.

"Pay attention man, we're in a hurry," Mr Allseyer admonished.

"Sorry sir," Tobias said through gritted teeth and he started the laborious task of counting up the prices again; not only had they purchased Damian's school books, but Leshia had also collected a round of first year books (presumably for Damian's younger brother Deacon who would be starting school this year) and Gemima had piled more books onto the counter than all the others combined.

"We might have to start visiting a new book shop, this place has gone decidedly downhill in recent months," Damian Allseyer continued and Leshia chewed the insides of her cheeks, still holding the vile boy's gaze while she waited for his mother to finish rifling. Either Gemima Allseyer had the largest handbag in the world, or she was purposefully stalling so as her son could have a good tease.

"Well if you have any complaints, you should take it up with the management," Leshia said simply, hoping Allseyer would take her up on her offer; there wasn't a doubt in her mind that Tarquin Blott and Regus Flourish would defend her, they were very fond of the young girl.

"Tell me Malfoy, I thought your family were supposed to be rich?" Allseyer remarked cheerfully. "I guess your dad's been spending too much on the good old whiskey huh?" Leshia's jaw dropped a little while behind the counter Tobias let out a strange noise. The smug look on Damian's face however, soon disappeared when he realised he'd fallen into shadow. There was someone tall standing behind him. He didn't turn around in time however, as by now his mother had finally located her purse. She opened it slowly while Leshia exchanged an apologetic look with Tobias (who in turn seemed incredibly distracted).

The frumpy woman took out a Galleon and examined it and for a moment Leshia felt confused; surely she wasn't going to be rewarded so generously by this despicable family. With a shake of her head a sickle was next removed from the purse; this was a usual tip and most people often left a couple of sickles for the hard working youngster. It would seem though that a sickle was too much in the eyes of Gemima Allseyer and after careful consideration she took out a measly tarnished, blunted Knut and held out her podgy hand containing the copper to Leshia. Leshia stared at it incredulously.

"Uh…" she began, but she didn't have time to say anything as suddenly a hand she recognised well reached out from behind the family and pushed the woman's hand away firmly.

"Don't insult the girl," the firm voice of Leshia's father came and he pushed Damian Allseyer out of the way purely by stepping out from behind the family and taking his place behind Leshia.

"Why I've never been so insulted in my life!" Gemima Allseyer exclaimed in fury, her double chins wobbling as she shook her head in amazement. "Such ingratitude! She should be grateful for the privilege of serving my family, as should you Malfoy!" Draco head fell forward slightly in surprise as behind the desk Tobias snorted in mirth.

"I don't serve your family Gemima," Draco said drolly. "Your son happens to attend my lessons, and if he wishes to remain on my register, then I would suggest you treat my child with respect and apologise for insulting her." The podgy woman's eyes went so wide she looked like frightened horse with all the whites showing round her irises, before she made an exasperated sound and stormed out of the shop. Draco next fixed his glare on the furious looking younger Allseyer, who quickly copied his mother example and stormed from the shop. By now Alistair Allseyer had paid for the books and after heaving the bag off the counter he stormed after his fleeing family without so much as a look over his shoulder.

"Nice try dad," Leshia said with a smirk. Draco smiled down at her and slung his arm round her shoulder. "What are you doing here anyway?" Draco looked at his watch and after squeezing Leshia tightly to his side he started towards the door.

"Meeting," he told the girl. "Don't be late for dinner." With this he was gone and Leshia turned slowly to see what Tobias had made of the whole thing.

"That one's a piece of work," he exclaimed sounding impressed that Leshia managed to keep her cool. "I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?" the girl asked bashfully, her heart thumping rapidly in her chest at these words of praise from her summer crush.

"Manage to stop yourself from knocking his block off every time he opens his mouth." Leshia giggled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Years of practice, besides, watching that fat woman go wobbling out of the shop was reward enough for me," she sighed gleefully. Tobias laughed warmly, a sound that made Leshia's cheeks blush even more furiously, when suddenly the bell chimed once more and Leshia spun around to find (in complete disbelief) that yet another unwanted face from school had walked in the door: Julius Black. Accompanied by a very beautiful woman with jet black hair and the strangest green eyes Leshia had ever seen, she could only presume this was Julius' mother. Mary Black (ne Crabbe) had been a very young bride; she had fallen for Horatio Black (the last of the Black's once poor Sirius had passed away) when she was sixteen years old and he thirty. It was a forbidden relationship and it was this that had made her love him initially. By the time she was seventeen she was pregnant with Julius and she bade goodbye to her Hogwarts days in favour of motherhood. She had no regrets.

Ahead of the beautiful mother and her oldest son ran the twins Leona and Magnus. Leshia had met these enchanting children last Christmas and she had to admit that had she not known they were Blacks and related to that awful and unpredictable Julius Black, then she would have liked them.

"Leshia!" the two eleven-year-olds yelled and they surged forward towards the girl, who froze on the spot. How did they remember her? She'd only met them for less than five minutes.

"Uh…hi," she said as they reached her side.

"Guess what?" Leona squealed.

"Um, what?"

"We're going to Hogwarts!" Magnus exclaimed gleefully. "Finally!"

"Congratulations?" Leshia tried tentatively.

"Thank you!" the twins chorused happily, before they charged off with their lists to find their books. By now Julius had reached her with his own book list in his hand.

"Hello," Julius said with a darkly amused expression. "I just saw Allseyer, I see you two have caught up, how very gallant of you." Leshia rolled her eyes. She may have shown the patience of a saint with Allseyer, but this young man managed to drive her mad. She had to admit, he had improved over the summer. He had already been tall, but now he seemed taller still, with the stature of a boy bordering on manhood. His once black spiky hair had been cut and the shorter style suited his handsome face. Leshia looked up at him with a stubborn expression.

"That wretch deserves everything he gets," she said simply. "But for your information, it was my dad and not me that scared them off." Julius smiled, though his eyes remained the same.

"You know, I could do without the drama this year between the pair of you, do you think you could tone it down?" the young man enquired curiously. Leshia made an outraged little noise, but before she could defend her honour Mary Black, Julius' mother, had joined his side. The young woman smiled broadly at the girl.

"You must be Draco Malfoy's girl," she said in a tremendously deep and mysterious voice. Leshia frowned, how on earth had she known? Mary laughed and shook her head.

"I would love to say it's because of your uncanny resemblance to him, which I must say, is true, but in actual fact, Julius here has told me all about you," the young woman said kindly. Leshia frowned incredulously, before looking to the enigma that was Julius Black with a curious frown. He was trying his very best to hide his embarrassment.

"Oh," Leshia finally managed. What else could she say? "Can I help you find any books or anything?"

"Yes that would be darling," Mary said charmingly and she fished the letter from her tall son's hands and handed it to the girl. "If you would be so kind." Leshia smiled at the lovely woman and then rushed off with the list. Julius it would seem would be sharing her Ancient Runes class, but as far as the other courses went, he had picked Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures and would therefore not be joining her (unless Gryffindor and Slytherin were paired for any of the core subjects, which no doubt, they would be). After quickly collecting the books Leshia darted back to the counter and deposited them, being granted three shiny Sickles for her troubles.

What on earth had gone wrong with Julius Black? Everyone else in his family was completely and utterly charming. Perhaps the father was a tyrant Leshia pondered from her position behind Tobias, who was ringing up the price tags for the attractive Black family. Every now and then her gaze would flick to Julius, who, to her utmost irritation, was watching her coolly. She couldn't work him out, was he staring at her or being a jeering so and so?

"It was lovely meeting you Leshia," Mary told the girl with a big smile before she herded the hyper active twins out of the shop.

"See you at school Malfoy, try and stay out trouble." With this Julius was gone leaving Tobias laughing himself silly at the look of outrage on Leshia's face.

"Oh don't you start!' the girl grumbled.

XXX

By the time one-o clock arrived and Leshia was due to go on her lunch break an excitable Rachel and Katie walked in the door clutching their book lists.

"Leesh!" they exclaimed jubilantly and Leshia smiled when she saw them.

"Oh my God, this has been the most eventful day," the girl groaned and she rushed over them to help them find their books (she was going to collect hers before she left for the day). "Not only have I had a wonderfully pleasant visit from almost the entire Allseyer family, but Julius Black was in here earlier being a pillock as usual!"

"Well look at that," Rachel sighed cheerfully as she pulled down a Divination textbook (it went without saying that all three girls were doing the same subjects) from the shelf. "Your two favourite boys in one day, lucky you." Leshia giggled.

"My dad was here at the right time for once," she said cheerfully. "That awful Allseyer woman was trying to give me a Knut, which you know, is worse than nothing."

"Harpie," Rachel concluded with a grin.

"Rachel!" Katie admonished. "That's an awful thing to say."

"It's an awful thing to do!" Leshia complained with a grin, knowing Katie wasn't excusing Allseyer's actions. Katie grinned and nodded as though saying, 'continue'. "Well anyway, I didn't realise that dad was here, but just as Fatty Allseyer (Leshia ignored Katie's admonishing, "Leshia.") was handing over the measly Knut my dad's hand appears from nowhere and he shoves it right back at her telling her that she should apologise. It was wicked, you should have seen it! I swear ever inch of her was wobbling in outrage." Rachel laughed out loud and even Katie managed an unladylike snort of delight, before she adopted her responsible expression once more.

"What did Julius have to say?" she asked curiously. Leshia made an exasperated noise as she petulantly kicked at a display case causing it to tremble dangerously.

"The usual," she grumbled. "Being a smart-alecky know-it-all! Sometimes he comes across as the coolest boy alive and then other times he's just a Slytherin rat. It should be a good payday for Slytherin on Monday, both that God awful Deacon Allseyer and the Black twins will be joining their ranks."

"Maybe not," Katie said with a shrug as she examined an extra text for their Ancient Runes class. "Leona and Magnus are really sweet, they could end up in any of the houses. In fact, I would say they're least likely to end up in Slytherin."

"But they're Blacks!" Leshia complained. Rachel grinned.

"Yeah, but you're a Malfoy and you're in Gryffindor."

"I'm also a Granger you forget," Leshia corrected her friend. "Those two are pure Slytherin descent. Even though…well I have to say their mum is really really nice."

"Look at our family," Katie said simply. "Everyone thought the Weasleys would all end up in Gryffindor but look at last year Annie ended up in Ravenclaw, Jack went to Hufflepuff and poor Hermia ended up in Slytherin."

"Where she belongs the wretched little harpie," Rachel grumbled, referring to her younger by a year sister. Rachel was the oldest of too many little sisters and one baby brother, and even though she could put up with most of them Hermia was the bane of her existence.

"Stop saying that word," Katie complained while Leshia laughed.

"How many of the clan are coming to school this year?" she asked curiously.

"Too many," Rachel sighed.

"Only four," her raven-haired cousin corrected her. Leshia grinned.

"Oh _only_ four," she repeated mockingly.

"Enough about school and relatives, let's pay for these so we can go and get an ice cream," Rachel said happily before she took off towards the cash register.

"No ice cream before lunch!" Katie called after her leaving Leshia rolling around in laughter; it was so good to be back with her friends, who were closer to her than anyone else in the world (save her parents of course).

XXX

The girls wiled half an hour of Leshia's lunch break by ambling through the shops until finally they reached the café shop where they had sandwiches. Following this they made their way to the ice cream parlour and sat outside watching the busy crowds go past.

"It's a Thursday, you know what that means?" Katie told her friends.

"Um…only three full days of freedom before school starts?" Rachel suggested. Katie grinned and shook her head.

"Well, true, but not what I'm thinking of."

"Oh," Leshia groaned. "I know. Its late night shopping isn't it?"

"Yep," Katie said triumphantly causing Rachel and Leshia to exchange a worried look. "I need to go shopping on the Muggle high street before we go back to school."

"Why? You've got about a hundred times the amount of clothes I do," Rachel complained.

"Yes well that's not saying very much considering I've seen you wearing this outfit the last ten times I've seen you," Katie chuckled. Rachel stuck her tongue out at her cousin.

"For your information, I happen to like this little combo," the redhead teased, imitating something Katie was well known for saying. Leshia sniggered with laughter, but then regained her senses.

"Actually, I kind of need to go too. I mean, we're going to be visiting Hogsmeade this year, we'll be needing more clothes I guess and besides, I've got all these summer earnings to spend."

"Oh," Rachel sighed sadly. "You're turning into a girl aren't you?" After laughing heartily Leshia suddenly remember what had happened the day before.

"So…what do you two think that cupboard did?" Katie and Rachel looked to one another before they met Leshia's gaze once more.

"We think it transported my dad to Hogwarts and back," Katie finally replied sounding a little afraid. Leshia thought for a moment before she nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I think it did too," she explained. Once more the three girls exchanged significant looks, as though wondering whether they ought to continue on this frame of mind or not.

"I've had an idea," Leshia explained quietly. "And I'm not sure if I should tell you…because it's just an idea and we don't even know if we can use these cupboards yet so…"

"Well are you going to tell us or do we have to guess?" Rachel chuckled.

"You know how it's going to be Halloween in a few months? And that the last two years we've thrown totally wicked parties and that no doubt people are expecting something even bigger than last year…"

"_Bigger _than last year?" Katie spluttered. "It's not possible!"

"Well, see that's what I thought, but what if we could hold a totally amazing party at a bigger venue…say with a lake, and some lawns, and…"

"No way!" Katie exclaimed suddenly. "Leshia no way! We can't hold a party at my house! My parents would go mad!"

"Well we'd have to think of a way to get them out of the way," Leshia began tentatively, but she trailed off when Katie glared at her. "Okay, well you think about it," Leshia said with an apologetic grin. After a fierce look Katie turned back to her ice cream missing the giant thumbs up and grin that Rachel gave Leshia. After a small smile Leshia returned to her own treat; the plan was as good as sold!

XXX

That evening Hermione had been easily convinced to go shopping and she managed to supervise Katie's spending, ensuring the young girl didn't buy too many outrageous outfits. Hermione was rather suspicious when the girls shopped for party outfits – knowing that the third years didn't have any formals this term, but she let it slide and just enjoyed the evening with the girls. Leshia spent almost all of her money and arrived home with more bags than she could carry up the stairs. Draco dutifully helped his daughter and then was sat down beside his wife on his bed while Leshia paraded all her new clothes around for them. That night Draco needed two glasses of whiskey just to settle the wretched feeling in his gut: his little girl was on the brink of womanhood and he couldn't stop her, he couldn't pull her back into childhood, he couldn't do anything and the feeling of being completely out of control was mortifying.

The weekend past in a flurry of packing and even so, on the morning of departure for the train station, Leshia was still stuffing things into her overstuffed trunk. Philly, Leshia's now two-year-old mischievous cat was quite lucky he hadn't been packed along with the socks. With ten minutes to spare the Malfoys arrived at the station and Draco helped Leshia on with her copious amounts of baggage, helping her get settled in a cabin, before he ruffled her hair.

"Be good," he warned the girl before he grinned dashingly at her and headed up the corridor towards the teachers' cabins where he had left Hermione struggling with their trunks. Leshia didn't have long to wait and she was soon joined by Rachel and Katie. For the duration of the journey to Hogwarts the girls were inundated with visitors coming to see how their summers were. Leshia, for the most part had already encountered most of their friends, but now she wasn't run off her feet it was nice to catch up properly. Finally, as they were nearing Hogwarts Rodeo and Parys dropped by.

"Knock knock," Rodeo's cheerful voice called out and he popped his head round the door to be greeted by two matching grins from Rachel and Leshia, yet a beaming adoring smile from Katie.

"Hi Rodeo!" she exclaimed breathily. Both Leshia and Rachel stared at their friend in complete surprise and amazement. Even Rodeo was surprised by the girl's behaviour and he chuckled uneasily.

"Oh hey Leesh, that T-shirt is really cool, I didn't know you were a Family Guy fan," Rodeo remarked jubilantly when he noticed Leshia's muddy green T-shirt with a big image of a character from this television show both Rodeo and Leshia were fans of.

"It's my favourite Muggle programme!" Leshia exclaimed happily. "I can't believe you know it! Everyone always stares at me blankly when I try to explain it."

"Really? No way, I love it! Me and my dad watch it all the time, my mum doesn't really like it, but she lets me watch it."

"Mine won't, if she catches me watching it she switches it onto something more 'educational'," Leshia giggled, but she was quickly silenced by Katie,

"Parys!" the girl cried out loudly as the tall boy walked in. "How wonderful to see you!" Without so much as a glance at Rodeo Katie jumped to her feet and threw her arms round a surprised Parys. "Wow, you look great," Katie was continuing into the boy's shoulder. Behind her Rodeo and Leshia were exchanging an awkward expression.

"Sorry," Leshia mouthed to the boy.

"Easy Katie, let the poor boy in," Rachel admonished her cousin, attempting jest, yet still coming out rather sternly.

"Um…I need the toilet," Katie mumbled suddenly and after letting poor Parys go she scarpered from the cabin down the corridor.

"That was weird," the dark haired boy said with a worried frown and he dropped down on the bench beside Leshia, twisting his body round so as his head leant back against her shoulder and his long legs rested on the wall of the cabin.

"My God Leshia was right, you sound completely different," Rachel remarked jubilantly. Leshia shot her a warning look.

"Rach!" she complained, but Parys was laughing, as too was Rodeo.

"I think I'm winning the bet man," Rodeo told his friend.

"What bet?" Leshia inquired. Rodeo turned his beautiful eyes onto the young girl and smiled adoringly at her, causing her heart to start beating a little faster.

"We've got this bet on, Parys doesn't think anyone going to notice his voice suddenly sounding like a different person…"

"I _don't _sound like a different person!" Parys interrupted amusedly. "But I do sound like a _man_." The way in which he dropped his voice and ruggedly pronounced man had all of them to burst out into raucous laughter. This was the scene Katie returned to, promptly causing the laughter to cease. She smiled falsely.

"What did I miss?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh not much," Parys replied with a shrug and he swung his legs back onto the ground, making his way to his feet. "Come on Rodes, we're getting close, we should go get changed." Rodeo looked anxiously from Leshia to Katie and then back again, before he smiled at them both and climbed to his feet following Parys out of the cabin.

"See you girls at the castle," he told them before he disappeared. After slamming the door shut Rachel spun on Katie.

"Stop being weird!" she complained. Katie seemed petulant.

"I'm not being weird," she snapped. "It's just its obvious now isn't it?" The tall girl spun on Leshia, who was looking up at Katie worriedly, why did she feel like she was about to receive the brunt of Katie's temper? "You win Leesh, you're the one he wants."

XXX

No matter how much Leshia complained that this wasn't the case, and even if it was, then she didn't care because she wasn't interested in Rodeo, Katie would not be pacified. She was still fuming as they walked into the Great Hall up at the castle and found their seats near the centre of the table. Rachel and Leshia sat opposite Katie who immediately immersed herself in a book.

"What's her problem?" Leshia mouthed to her best friend. Rachel rolled her eyes. Wasn't it obvious?

"She's jealous!" the redhead mouthed back.

"Of what?" Leshia demanded in surprise. Rachel rolled her eyes, but ignored the blonde girl; instead she focused her attention on studying everyone in the room to see how everyone had changed. She noticed that Julius Black was looking in their direction, but said nothing of it to Leshia; she didn't want both of her friends to be in a sulk on their first night back.

While they were sitting chatting amiably no one seemed to notice the main doors of the great hall swinging open to reveal McGonagall marching in with the twin lines of worried first years.

"Hey look!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed when McGonagall swooped past them. "They look tiny!"

"Nah, they're about Leesh's size look," Parys, who had taken a seat on Leshia's other side, chuckled, which earned him an elbow to the ribs. "For a small person you're surprisingly vicious!"

"Oh that's it!" Leshia laughed and she burst into a full attack on the boy. She only let him go when the Sorting Hat began it's annual changing song. As usual it was hilarious and poignant and by the end the whole school was cheering along happily. Now came the moment of truth; the sorting of the first years.

"Allseyer, Deacon," was the first to be called forward and everyone watched with mild interest as the spitting image of the Slytherin bully stepped forward and took his place on the seat. The hat had barely been lowered onto his head before it pronounced,

"Slytherin!" The furthest table from the Gryffindors burst into rapturous applause and Leshia glanced over to see Damian Allseyer grinning proudly as his little brother joined his side.

"Filthy pigs," she grumbled, eliciting laughter from her friends. The process was getting rather boring until Black, Leona took to the stool. Across the hall Julius Black looked up with interest resonating from every one of his handsome features. His adorable little sister was sat on the chair grinning fit to burst; so much so that many of the older girls in the school were 'awwwwing' to one another.

"What's the bet that she'll be in…" Leshia began.

"Gryffindor!" the hat proclaimed, cutting the blonde girl off mid-sentence.

"I was going to say Gryffindor, give me five Sickles," Rachel laughed to her friend over the noise of the applause going on around them. Leshia was completely shell-shocked and this process was about to be repeated when Black, Magnus was placed in their house next. After she had regained her senses Leshia looked up and across the hall to where Julius was watching his younger siblings. To Leshia's amazement, a small smile had pulled at his face and for the first time ever he allowed the genuine smile to warm his features, and for the first time ever Leshia felt something real.

XXXXXXXXX

End of Part I

Hope you enjoyed, remember, let me know, I write quicker when I get some inspiration to continue

For those wondering about Julius Black's background, I hope this helps a little, but if not, on my profile is the edited Black Family tree (edited the one JK wrote – well edited and edited, I just added on to it)

Anyway, I'll write again soon, hope to get some reviews!


	2. Part Two

**Generations: The Blue Lions**

**Part II**

Once all the first years had been sorted (the four Weasleys ending up in Gryffindor amongst most of their kin – Rachel hid her secret pleasure at having her little sister Emelia join their house with exasperation) Dumbledore climbed to his feet to welcome the school back for another year. Leshia's gaze was distracted by the attractive man sitting to the left of her mother. He must have been about thirty-five years old, with dark wavy hair and hazel eyes visible even from Leshia's vantage point. Smile lines creased his face and his entire aura screamed: lovely.

"Who's he?" Leshia whispered to Rachel.

"I think we're about to find out."

"Pupils, as you know we have spent the summer trying to fill the Muggle Studies position we were left manning with supply staff at the end of last year. Finally, when we thought our hopes were lost Isaac Lewis came to our rescue and has agreed to be your new Muggle Studies professor." The headmaster indicated the man sat beside Hermione, before he elicited applause from the students by clapping his hands loudly. The children were eager to start the feast, so Dumbledore sped through the rest of his speech. By the time he'd sat down the food materialised in front of the gleeful students. For the first years the wondrous dishes lying before their eyes were a sight to behold.

"He looks like fun," Rachel said cheerfully indicating the new Muggle Studies professor. "Thank God, I thought they were going to get a dragon to replace Ramble."

"What, literally?" Leshia chuckled. "I wouldn't want to get detention with them!"

"Ha ha, very funny," Rachel chuckled and she shoved her friend.

"No seriously, you're on to something. Even _I_ would behave in a lesson taught by a dragon."

"Did I just there the words 'you' and 'behave' in one sentence?" Rodeo piped up from the opposite side of Parys; he had been beaten to the coveted spot beside Leshia.

"No, smart arse," Leshia countered happily. "You heard the words 'I' and 'behave'!" Rodeo grinned adoringly at the girl just as Katie let out a disgusting sounding coughing noise. Aware that the girl was about to go as green as her peas with envy, Leshia turned her back on the boys and chatted happily with Rachel instead. Towards the end of dinner Mila Evanovitch, the sixth year newly named captain of the winning side that was the Gryffindor quidditch team made her way down the table telling her existing team mates (the Weasley boys and Leshia) that they would be holding team tryouts so soon as Wednesday evening. Leshia was excited at the prospect and yet still her face fell a little once Mila had moved back to her place near the top of the table.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked gently. Leshia grinned and shook her head.

"Nothing, I'm just being stupid," she sighed. Rachel knew was what was wrong; she hadn't been Leshia's best friend since the days before they could even hold their heads up for nothing.

"You miss Ryan don't you?" Ryan Lofting had been Mila's predecessor. He had been like a big brother to Leshia, always looking out for her, throwing her around in rough and tumble games and just generally being adorably annoying. He was the closest thing to a sibling she had ever known (save Rachel and Katie of course, but the big brother camaraderie she had enjoyed with Ryan was entirely different), but the previous year had been Ryan Lofting's last at Hogwarts and now Leshia missed him like mad, so she nodded pathetically to Rachel's question. The redhead gave her a sympathetic half-hug.

"We wrote each other quite a lot this summer," Leshia explained. "He managed to tease me and wind me up even on paper!" Rachel laughed and nodded; she could definitely believe that that was true. "Him and Julia moved in together and now he's working at the ministry while trying to get into professional quidditch. Julia is doing really well, she's on the Auror training programme." Julia Walling had been Ryan's girlfriend since the pervious Halloween when Leshia's party had somehow managed to bring them together. "I bet Mila misses Luka," Rachel said as she looked up the table to the pretty sixth year. Luka, one of Ryan's two best friends and a star chaser, had been Mila's boyfriend for many a year. Drawn together over their common ancestry (both families having come from Eastern Europe) the pair had been a lovely couple. "I heard he plays for the Montrose Magpies."

"Yeah, he was snapped up, he always was pretty amazing," Leshia sighed, feeling slightly jealous.

"Oh get you, I bet as soon as you turn sixteen they'll want to snap you up for the national side," Rachel complained. Leshia stared at her in amazement, before she looked down at Rachel's pumpkin juice cup.

"Okay, who spiked Rach's drink?" she asked the table at large, to be met with a chorus of laughter.

"That girl doesn't need anything untoward to flip out a little bit," Parys said fondly.

"Ah! Such cheek!" Rachel cried out jovially, and she leaned past Leshia and started to tickle Parys. Unbelievably ticklish, the girls knew of Parys' weakness and often picked on him because of it. He was very entertaining to watch while he writhed and wriggled trying to contain his laughter.

"Stop, ceasefire!" he tried through his laughter. Everyone at the table had turned to watch in laughter and even those at the neighbouring table: Ravenclaw, were starting to stare with big smiles on their faces. Those girls in third year and below – and even some of those in the years above – swooned and envied Rachel greatly for being able to touch the young man. Parys and Rodeo you see, were rather the heartthrobs of third year.

"Okay fine," Parys managed and he wrapped his arms around Leshia who let out a little squeak of surprise, before she was pulled into a gentle headlock.

"You leave me alone and she goes free," Parys mocked with a big grin. Rachel considered the situation.

"Rach," Leshia laughed and she started wriggling her elbows into Parys' side, which did manage to cause him some amount of tickling agony. "I want to live!" Leshia joked and once more people laughed, only this time at the girl's theatrics.

"Hmmm," Rachel pondered. "I'm sorry, I don't negotiate with kidnappers."

"Oh come on…" Leshia began, before she became the subject of Rachel's extremely able tickling fingers. They could have carried on their game all night, but Leshia looked up at the right time to see that her father was practically on his feet, desperately wanting to intervene.

"Guys, cut it out," she told her friends seriously. "My dad's going to come down here and sort you out if you're not careful Parys." This sorted the young man out and he let Leshia go, quickly returning to his dinner; not daring to look up at the main table. Leshia however, did, and she met her father's eye and gave him a cocky smile. After rolling his eyes, Draco grinned back and returned to his own dinner, just about catching Hermione pointing in her direction. Her mother was talking to this Isaac Lewis and was presumably pointing out that that little troublemaker that had just been causing all the chaos was her daughter. This much was true, but what Leshia didn't know was with how much pride Hermione showed off that the loudest most troublesome girl in the school was her own.

XXX

After dinner the girls were far too stuffed to unpack and they changed into their pyjamas; for the first time ever Leshia didn't mind changing out in the dormitory rather than within the confines of her bed curtains. For the first time ever, she wasn't ashamed of her tiny body as finally, she was starting to look like the girl she was. After changing into the baggy pyjama trousers and a vest Leshia scampered across the chilly bedroom floor towards Rachel's bed, where she dropped down with Philly her cat in her arms.

"Katie?" Leshia tried tentatively and she looked over to the raven-haired girl who was lying on top of her sheets staring at the ceiling. "Katie don't be like this, please?" Slowly Katie turned her head and Leshia could have sworn she saw tears in the raven-haired girl's eyes.

"Be like what Leshia?" she asked pointedly. "Maybe I should be more like you, then maybe Rodeo would like me." Leshia held her tongue. "I used to think that you fancied Rodeo and I used to feel really bad about fancying him too, but now I realise that you're just like that with all the boys. Even Julius! You like all of them, you're just a tease!"

"Katie!" Rachel gasped, but Katie wasn't done just yet.

"She is," the girl exclaimed angrily. "And it's not fair, because they all fall for it, so when one of us comes along that only likes one – like Rodeo – then we can't get a look in because they're all madly in love with you!"

"Katie you're out of line," Leshia said calmly, though her expression was slightly frightening.

"Am I? Tell me Alecia, if you had to choose one of them, which one would you choose? Because seriously, enlighten me! Is it Rodeo, Parys, Julius…I don't know, even Luke and Tom? You seem to fancy every bloody boy in the school!" Leshia narrowed her eyes and turned her back on Katie feeling furious. "No please tell me, tell me so I can stay the hell away from him and go after the one I want."

"Um…guys…" Rachel began worriedly and she exchanged a concerned glance with the two girls they shared their dormitory with: Nicola White and Ashley Reed. The pair of slightly ditzy girls were looking at the redhead worriedly as though expecting her to sort it out.

"Katie they're not a bloody pair of shoes, or a damn top!" Leshia exploded. "It's not an automatic right, you can't just pick one and automatically he'll be your boyfriend. Get real!"

"I don't think that way!" Katie complained angrily.

"Well you're certainly acting like it. For your information, I don't like _any_ of them, so you can throw yourself at all of them like you did today with Parys for all I care, but mark my words they won't like you back if you start acting so crazy desperate."

"Leesh!" Rachel implored.

"Desperate!" Katie squealed.

"Yes, desperate! It's really easy to blame the fact that Rodeo doesn't like you anymore on me isn't it? Well have you ever stopped to think that Rodeo might just not like you anymore full stop?" Tears were streaming down Katie's face, and after an extremely exasperated noise she rolled over in bed pulling her curtains tightly shut. Rachel was staring grimly at Leshia.

"Oh don't you start," Leshia groaned and she climbed back off Rachel's bed and made her way over to her own four-poster where she shut her curtains and climbed under the covers, pulling her cat close to her chest.

"I'm sorry," she mouthed in the dark as the tears spilled over onto her pillow.

XXX

The following morning Leshia woke to the sound of the others getting ready, so after stretching lazily and displacing a sleepy Philly, she rolled out of bed to find Katie emerging at the same time. Biting the bullet Leshia was all ready to be the first to apologise, but there was no need.

"I'm so sorry," Katie whispered and her eyes filled with tears. Leshia grinned and rushed across the gap between their beds, before she threw her arms around her friend's shoulders.

"No _I'm_ so sorry! I didn't mean any of those things I said!" The two girls laughed as they hugged and then laughed even more when Rachel suddenly clung onto their side, not wanting to miss out on the embrace.

"What am I going to do with the pair of you eh?" the redhead laughed.

"Eradicating PMS would be a good start," Katie sighed as the three girls pulled apart. Leshia was staring at the tall girl with a wrinkled nose in confusion.

"PMS?" she asked with a frown. Katie and Rachel turned to stare at the girl in wonder.

"You _don't _know what PMS is?" Rachel asked in amazement. "Don't you get it? God I wish I had your body." Leshia thought fast for a moment, before she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well maybe I get it, what is it? I might know it by a different name." Rachel and Katie exchanged glances; they had always wondered. Both of them had received the unfortunate event of the earliest sign of womanhood before they went to school, but both were convinced Leshia had not yet joined their ranks. They knew the girl was defensive about her body, so they had never wanted to bring it up.

"It doesn't matter," Rachel said quickly and she tried to busy herself with pulling a cord on Katie's bed curtain.

"Guys, seriously," Leshia said firmly. "What is it?" she repeated slowly.

"Well it's when you get all stressy before…you know," Katie said gently.

"Before what?"

"Well you know, the monthly girly thing…" Rachel tried. The realisation dawning on Leshia's face was like a light-bulb going on, and even though she donned an expression of knowing, the girls had noticed the panicked expression that had materialised on her face for the most fleeting of moments.

"Oooohhhhh, that," Leshia exclaimed obviously and she turned away from her friends. No more was said on the matter and as they walked down to breakfast each and every one of the girls felt incredibly awkward: Katie and Rachel for not being more tactful and for not being honest with Leshia from the start, and Leshia for not realising that of course she was the only one still lagging behind in the development stakes. No longer proud of her awful tiny body she wanted to hide it away in a big burlap sack. How could she have been so stupid to presume that she was normal and that her friends hadn't hit that milestone yet either. Yes it had been worrying her, but the knowledge that her friends weren't there yet either had always comforted her. Now…

"Good morning girls," Hermione's cheerful voice came and the three girls spun around to find Leshia's parents were right behind them, having appeared from a side corridor leading up from their chambers. Seeing this opportunity to still her mind Leshia darted from her friends' side to her mother.

"Mum, I need to talk to you," the girl exclaimed.

"Well okay," Hermione laughed. Leshia waved her friends on.

"I'll see you two down there!" Katie and Rachel smiled at their friend before they hurried off, hoping that when Leshia and Hermione were done talking they would have their old self-assured friend back. "Dad," Leshia began awkwardly when Draco showed no sign of going away.

"What?" her father asked with a frown, none the wiser.

"Girl talk darling, is what our daughter is trying to tell you," Hermione said sweetly with a big smile.

"I'm gone," Draco quickly replied and he started off down the corridor, but after merely three paces he was back, bending down so his eye level was at his daughters. "Next time some boy is being publicly indecent with my daughter I'm going to chop his hands off, is that clear? You might want to inform your little friends." Hermione rolled her eyes fondly, remember Draco's mood the night before, which he hadn't been able to snap out of all night. Leshia frowned in a put out way, but she nodded quickly all the same.

"Got it," she said affirmatively. Draco tilted his head back and regarded her with a calculating look, before he too nodded once in affirmation.

"Good." With this he straightened up and walked off. Hermione watched him go with fond eyes and Leshia had to nudge her arm to catch her attention.

"Mum?"

"Sorry darling, your father can be quite a pain sometimes. _I_ think that Parys boy is absolutely charming," Hermione said. Leshia wrinkled up her face.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about!" Leshia complained.

"I know," Hermione teased. "What's the matter sweetheart?" Leshia glowed bright red and dropped her head a little. Having no mother for most of her life had made her rather coy about feminine issues – rather like Draco in this respect.

"It's Rachel and Katie, they were talking about PMS this morning," the girl said awkwardly. Hermione instantly guessed the problem.

"Ooohhhh," she said and shook her head. "Say no more, I understand."

"Well what's wrong with me mum? I thought we were all in the same boat, but we're not. I'm just some underdeveloped misfit and as usual, everyone else in the world is way ahead of me." Hermione grinned at her daughter and shook her head.

"No, you most certainly aren't. I was fifteen sweetheart, _fifteen_ years old. I know exactly how you feel." Leshia, as much as she didn't want to admit it, felt better by her mother's confession and she looked up with a smirk.

"So it's all your fault?" Hermione grinned too and nodded.

"I'm afraid so. Don't you worry about a thing, it's perfectly normal." With her mothers words still ringing in her ears Leshia made her way back to her friends at the main table and she dropped down beside them.

"Everything okay now?" Katie asked hopefully and Leshia grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, everything's okay."

"No it's not," Rachel groaned. "We've got Charms first! God I hate Charms!"

"I thought you loved Charms?" Katie countered with a frown.

"Yeah, Flitwick doesn't even care if we've got our shirts untucked or anything," Leshia said sounding confused. "I mean what's not to like?"

"It was my exam wasn't it," Rachel grumbled. "My worst result. Damn Flitwick marked me down."

"Yeah, because you exploded a pillow," Leshia sniggered.

"Hey sod off!" Rachel laughed and she flicked a piece of cereal at the blonde girl.

"Have we got anything new today?" Leshia asked as she studied the timetable at her side.

"Yeah, divination right before lunch," Rachel replied.

"Wicked, I'm really curious about that one," Leshia confessed. "Even though my mum says it's a load of nonsense. I bet it's not though, I mean the teacher, well she's been here for absolutely yonks hasn't she?" The other two nodded.

"Yeah I can't wait," Katie admitted.

"Me either, but I think I'm going to prefer the lessons with Firenze more than the ones with Professor Trelawney."

"He's the one that we see sometimes on the grounds isn't he? The centaur?" Katie asked excitedly.

"Yeah, his classroom is like the forest, it's got trees in it and everything. I once popped in there last year on the way to the ground floor toilets," Leshia explained. "It's totally wicked, though I bet you're going to be really scared of creepy crawlies Katie."

XXX

It turned out that Katie was very frightened of the creepy crawlies, but she wasn't the only one as all the girls except Leshia and Rachel squirmed a little once they had taken their seats on the moss awaiting their teacher. It turned out that the little F in the corner of their timetable boxes informing them that they had Divination at this time had in fact stood for Firenze. Professor Trelawney's lesson would be held on Thursday before break up in her lofty tower.

"I'm so excited, this is the most exciting lesson ever," Rachel whispered to her friends, who nodded thoroughly in return. Perhaps the excitement of this lesson was heightened by the fact that they had just come from Transfiguration (in which they revised last year's material until the children were practically passing out from boredom) and before that they had enjoyed the joys of History of Magic. The only saving grace of the morning thus far had been that the Gryffindors had shared their Charms and Transfiguration classes with the Ravenclaws and their History of Magic class with the Hufflepuffs, so as of yet, they had managed to avoid the dreadful Slytherins. This was about to change.

Allseyer followed by his posse of dreadful friends burst into the wooded classroom with the air of someone who was sure they were the most important person in the room. The very sight of him made Leshia's skin crawl and she looked the other way furiously.

"Well, well, well," Allseyer's drawl came and Leshia looked up to see the dreadful Slytherins had sat down near them on the moss. Damian Allseyer leaned back against a tree with a big cocky grin as he glared at Leshia. "Hello blood-traitor."

"You know, we don't have to exchange insults every time we meet," Leshia complained. "We could juts ignore each other and get on with our lives."

"Yeah you'd like that wouldn't you?" Allseyer jeered cruelly. "But I'm never going to leave you alone Malfoy. You're going to get it for…"

"My dad making you run away with your tail between your legs?" Leshia interrupted icily and her comrades laughed at the pink-faced Slytherin bully.

"Just you wait Malfoy, things are going to be different this year, you're not going to be smiling by the end of it." Leshia frowned at the boy, he evidently knew something she didn't and this bothered her.

"Whatever, as far as I can see, the last two years I'm apparently supposed to have got it coming to me, but so far, I'm in the clear," she said simply.

"You've been fortunate," Allseyer countered with a sly smile. "You won't be so lucky a third time." Leshia rolled her eyes, before she suddenly broke into a loud hissing sound. Rachel quickly followed her friend's lead and copied her example, hissing furiously at the boy while the Gryffindor's laughed at the panicked expression on Allseyer's face.

"Don't worry Damian, they're just little snakes, they can't hurt you," Katie said cheerfully.

"Oh sod off!" Allseyer snapped and he turned away from the Gryffindors defeated and furious. After a year of bullying Leshia when they were in second year, the girl had finally got her own back on him by locking him in the Chamber of Secrets surrounded by snakes. They were absolutely harmless and no harm had come to the boy, but he was still shaken up by the whole experience. Now there was the added problem of Leshia being able to taunt him with it whenever she so desired.

"Good morning children," a deep voice came from the gloom of the classroom forest beyond the point at which the children were sat. Everyone jumped and spun around to find a pair of strange blue eyes gleaming through the undergrowth. There was a mad scramble to climb to their feet and as they did so a tall hulking figure stepped out of the trees: Firenze. He was fascinating to look at, with the beautiful palomino body of a strong horse, and the strong upper body of a man he was a powerful being to behold; yet his white-blonde hair and blue eyes told of a sensitivity his otherwise statuesque figure seemed to conceal. The handsome face was smiling as Firenze looked over each and every child for a few moments.

"Please, remain seated," he told them and as one the class dropped back onto the spongy moss, still staring up at the centaur in reverence. "Welcome to this, your first class in Divination. As you already know, I will be sharing you with Professor Trelawney. You will soon come to find that she and I practice very different forms of Divination, but that it is our intention to impart upon you a fair knowledge of both." The children nodded with wide eyes and Firenze couldn't help but smile at their youth. "Very well, before we begin children, I would like to ask you to tell me your name and then I would like you to inform me of just the slightest little insight you yourself have had into your own future. Anything at all you may tell me, but you must be certain that this is going to occur."

The children turned to one another with excited expressions as Firenze walked around the whole class and then found himself a position from which he could see the whole class. He looked then to the girl sat at his side: Laura Figreed in Hufflepuff. She giggled nervously to her friends, before she looked back up at the centaur.

"I'm Laura, and…" she paused nervously while letting out another anxious giggle. "I know that I'm going to have three children some day."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Laura," Firenze told the girl, before he looked to her neighbour and friend, Francesca Littlewood, who claimed she knew she was going to become a reporter for Witch Weekly magazine. And so Firenze went round the whole class, with each and every child spouting some sort of desire they wished for and claimed this was going to be their future. By the time it was Damian Allseyer's turn Leshia was a little bored of hearing her classmates idly dream about the future.

"My name is Damian Allseyer," the pointy-featured boy said drolly, and very slowly he looked over to Leshia. Desperately he wanted to spit out, 'And know that I am going to make you suffer,' but he managed to stop himself in time, instead opting for, "And I am going to be the most successful and wealthy wizard in the world." Leshia rolled her eyes and waited while Tamara Beckwaith, one of the Slytherin harpies (as Rachel would say) spouted that she was going to win the Miss Hogwarts beauty competition she and her friends were running on Valentine's day.

Next it was Leshia's turn, who had to be hailed from her horrified vision of this so-called Miss Hogwarts competition she had as of yet not heard about. After spinning around to face Firenze, still with eyes wide in horror, she was surprised to find him smiling at her.

"Your name please?"

"Oh, um, Leshia Malfoy," the girl managed. "And um…well…I'm probably going to get detention before week's out." Most of her classmates chuckled while Firenze smiled even more broadly at the girl. Rachel pledged that she was going to fail her Charms Owl and Katie was certain she was going to be made prefect in two years time. After three more pupils the class had all revealed their names and their secret hidden desires masked as prophecies.

"I believe that many of you found it very difficult to tell me something you feel is a certainty in your future," Firenze said slowly and he looked over all the classmates. "It is very difficult to disentangle our desires from true divination, as our wants and desires always seem to interfere with our objectivity. All but one of you informed me not of certainties in your futures, but instead informed me of dreams you wish to attain. It was a very unfair question of me to ask, as you have not been trained in these arts in any shape or form. However," the centaur paused and looked straight at Leshia. "Certain individuals possess a certain insight into the path their destiny is to take them on. Such people need not crystal balls, or the constellations to tell them of their path, they feel it deep within. Leshia Malfoy, I believe you might possess such gifts." The girl blushed bright red as everyone turned and stared at her. "Of course, we must always base our predictions of future events in part on our past behaviour and it might be with the aid of experience that you made your prediction." Leshia grinned wryly and shrugged; of course this was how she had done it. She was in detention almost every week, that didn't make her a seer all of a sudden did it? "You must not sell yourself short." After one last smile Firenze looked back up to the class.

"While trying to read the future we must remember not to stray too far into the distance, as this is where the facts become twisted and hazy. I impart upon you now a word of warning, it does not do well for the soul to take these matters I am to teach you too much to heart. It is very dangerous to wile away the present dreaming of fictitious futures we may never observe. You must not lose track of the present."

XXX

"That was the best lesson ever, he's so wise!" Rachel gushed as the girls filed down the corridor towards the Great Hall to have a quick lunch. Katie and Leshia exchanged grins; they hadn't enjoyed the class as much as Rachel had. Katie had found the subject too vague (case in point, they hadn't actually _learnt_ anything in the hour-long lesson) and Leshia had hated the way Firenze had singled her out for too many examples. Both were hoping that Professor Trelawney's lessons would be more informative and less individualistic respectively.

"Just triple Defence Against the Dark Arts and then we're free," Leshia sighed heavily as she dropped down at the table.

"That should be fun," Rachel said grimly, matching her friend's tone with a big grin.

"Shut up!" Leshia complained fondly and she picked up a small bread roll, all set on throwing it at the redhead. "Better than burning incense and pretending to repeat some strange mantra."

"Is your dad still in a scary mood like he was at mine? Because in that case I think I've just felt a stomach ache coming on," Katie asked. Leshia grinned and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't think so, he's being a bit weird over the boys, but…" The girl trailed off as at this moment Parys and Rodeo waltzed in full of boyish bravado. Seeing their friends they headed over to them and to Katie's delight Rodeo sat down beside her. Leshia felt a little pang of annoyance, but forced it away; what on earth was wrong with her? Maybe Katie was right; maybe she did like all of them. What a nuisance! Cursing her teenage hormones (the ones responsible for all these problems Leshia believed) she started to eat.

"I think being a teacher's daughter makes all other teachers fall in love with you," Parys said cheerfully while he constructed a sandwich out of a huge French bread roll and a veritable mountain of fillings – well, he was a growing boy after all. Leshia stuck her tongue out at him.

"Snape loves me now does he? Wow, he's been hiding that one really well," she remarked cheerfully.

"He's just playing hard to get," Rodeo added with a grin.

"Yuck! Don't be so disgusting!" Rachel grumbled. "I'm trying to eat here."

"Oh is that what you're doing?" Parys teased, and indeed Rachel had spilled half of her sandwich down her front and into her lap. "I _was_ wondering." The youngsters burst into laughter while Rachel glowed bright red and tried her very best to clear herself up.

"Oh leave her alone," Leshia complained, bordering on anger.

"We're just joking," Parys apologised, seemingly losing his bravado the instant Leshia turned serious.

"So, first trip to Hogsmeade in two weeks time," Rodeo said happily.

"Really? Where did you hear that?" Katie exclaimed happily. Rodeo grinned proudly at the girl, happy to bring her news that made her so happy.

"Overheard some fifth years talking about it. They were also talking about that Professor Lewis guy, they really liked him. I mean fair enough, they were girls and they probably just fancy him, but he sounds like a pretty cool guy."

"When've we got Muggle Studies first?" Rachel asked eagerly.

"Tomorrow before break," Leshia replied excitedly. "I can't wait." The boys regarded the blonde girl worriedly; it sounded as though she already had a crush on this new teacher and they hadn't even had a single lesson with him yet.

For the remainder of lunch the boys continued their eternal mission of fondly teasing their female friends, and then managed to entice them outside for a game of muggle football with many of the other boys in the year. They all had a great time, but had strayed so far from the school that they didn't hear the first bell going signifying the end of break. They only became aware that they were in fact the only ones left out in the grounds when the second bell was ringing, signifying that they should be sitting in their classes now starting their lesson. As one the hoard of would-be football players swarmed inside, those about to enter the lion's den desperately trying to tuck their shirts in and appear presentable.

Their classmates were nowhere to be seen in the corridor, which meant that they had already filed inside. Leshia was thrust forward by her friends, involuntarily being picked to walk in first. The theory here being that Professor Malfoy would be less likely to eviscerate his own daughter for tardiness; they ought to have known better.

"Detention, all of you," Draco's stern tone came the moment Leshia gently pushed the door open and peaked her head round. The girl's shoulders drooped and she managed to make a slight apologetic look at her father before she rushed to find her usual seat. It was only after she had sat down and pulled out her new textbook - _Atrum Bestia_, (which Leshia could understand meant 'Dark Creatures', her grasp of the Latin language was improving year by year – it couldn't not, as they had to use it in so many different spells, potions instructions and in other various forms it just wasn't funny) by Genevieve Blackfoot – that she noticed with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she could no longer outrun the Slytherins as for the third year running they were sharing their class with the unpleasant bunch. Allseyer was smirking at her smugly, happy that the girl was in trouble.

"My office Wednesday afternoon," Draco told the five latecomers bemusedly as they took their seats. Leshia frowned and thought hard; something was happening on Wednesday, what was it? "Right, as I was saying…" Draco continued, but he suddenly paused when Leshia's hand shot into the air urgently with a desperate expression to match on her face. "Yes, what is it now?"

"Sir I can't make Wednesday, we've got quidditch tryouts and the captain asked me to be there so I can help," Leshia explained quickly. Draco stared at her calculatingly and he chewed the insides of his mouth.

"Fine," he grumbled eventually. "Make it Thursday after lessons, and let's hope the five of you will be able to make it to that on time or you will be spending the weekend sorting through that!" Leshia and her friends followed her father's hand towards the massive pile of shredded and messed up pages and books. They gasped in unison.

"Woah," Leshia even exclaimed; so that's why her father was in a foul mood. The girl looked to her father with a serious imploring look: what had happened? He merely shook his head ever so slightly, before he turned to the rest of the class.

"As I was saying, this term we are going to be focusing on Dark Creatures," he told the class. "In first year we covered the very basics when we tackled the ones everybody knows about: Vampires, werewolves, I'm sure you remember. This term we are going to tackle ten creatures I am sure you would rather wish to avoid and these are: boggarts, grindylows, kappas, red caps, hinkypunks, banshees, pogrebin, acromantula, basilisks and we will finish with trolls." The children turned to one another with big smiles; it all sounded very interesting. "With the milder species we will have the chance to examine a few specimens, but this will depend on how well you behave and respond in the theory based lessons." At this point he looked fiercely at Allseyer and almost equally so at his own daughter, as though daring them to start something. "Right then, we start today's lesson with red caps, open your text books to page two hundred and three."

The class were exceptionally well behaved throughout the lesson, so much so that by the time the final bell rang signifying the end of the day Draco had calmed down slightly. He had been horrified that morning when he walked into his classroom ahead of his first class of the day – the frightened first years he had just terrified into tucking in their shirts. Managing to keep his cool in front of the children was very difficult indeed and he had ensured that their first lesson with him was one to remember (but not for any good reasons). They all vowed as they rushed from the classroom, that they would drop Defence Against the Dark Arts as soon as was humanly possible if Draco Malfoy was to remain their teacher. Over the course of the day he had slowly been calming down into a coldly calculating frame of mind; who had done this?

As soon as the bell went Draco let the class swarm out of the room and he wasn't surprised when one of them remained behind.

"Dad what happened?" Leshia demanded sounding angry – she too could see someone had purposefully caused the damage to hurt and anger her father.

"I don't know, I found it like this this morning," he explained as he wiped the day's chalk writing off the blackboard. "It wasn't like that last night." Leshia gave him a wounded expression laced with anger. "Yes I know, you don't have to tell me," Draco chuckled when he saw her.

"I'm sorry we were late, we were playing that muggle game Rodeo likes so much and lost track of the time," Leshia apologised. Draco's jaw muscle twitched at the sound of the boy's name, but he forced himself to nod anyway.

"Stay closer to the castle next time," he told her brusquely. "Everything sorted out with your mother?" Leshia frowned.

"What? Oh yeah!" she quickly said and blushed a little at the thought of discussing it with her father. "Oh my God dad!" the girl suddenly exclaimed. Draco couldn't help but grin at her dramatics. "The Slytherins are going to be running a Miss Hogwarts competition over Valentine's Day! Can you believe it?" To her utmost surprise Draco started to laugh heartily.

"A beauty competition? Here? Oh dear," he managed through his laughter.

"Dad! It's not funny, I bet you anything that I'm going to get dragged into it," the girl grumbled. Draco grinned at his daughter and slung his arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't realise you were so vein," he teased, earning a glare from his daughter.

"It's not vanity, it's bloody sods law!" she grumbled and started storming towards the door where turned around and grinned happily at her father. He smiled back at her with a heart-felt grin, and with this the girl was gone, running to catch up with her friends, who were bickering over the merits (or lack thereof) of their previous divination lesson on their way to their dormitory.

XXX

The following morning the girls could barely concentrate in their transfiguration class prior to their first muggle studies lesson with Professor Lewis. Unfortunately, this led to them performing very poorly (even Leshia and Katie, who prided themselves on excellent transfiguration skills) and loosing five housepoints between them for lack of effort. They couldn't care less!

The Gryffindor girls practically ran down the corridors towards their next classroom, each of them terrifically excited about seeing their new teacher up close. Evidently Leshia had not been the only one to notice the allure of Isaac Lewis and all the girls in the school were swooning over him; Draco Malfoy had finally been replaced as the hottest teacher in the school in the eyes of the student body. It wasn't so much that Isaac was dashingly good looking like the former; it was just his very karma that attracted the females. Taken at face value Draco would definitely come out the victor in the attractiveness stakes, but when met face-to-face, Isaac Lewis would be chosen every time.

"Oh look it's the centaur's pet," Allseyer's vile droll came as Leshia and her friends skidded to a halt in the corridor outside their classroom, but the girl's mood was too good to be broken by Damian Allseyer's pathetic taunting.

"Oh sod off Allseyer," Leshia laughed eliciting a round of excitable laughter from her friends. The girls remained unstoppably giggly until the relaxed ambling footsteps of Isaac Lewis brought the class to complete silence. With a big smile on his face Isaac greeted his class and led them inside the classroom. Not surprisingly, the girls fought for the benches at the front of the classroom while the boys ambled to the back of the class with disgruntled expressions on their faces. Once the last straggler – an incredibly putout looking Rodeo – had made his way into the classroom and pulled out his book Professor Lewis made his way to the blackboard.

"Welcome back third years," he told them gallantly and flashed his fabulous smile at the children. "I'll begin by introducing myself, my name is Isaac Lewis and years ago I came to Hogwarts…"

"How many years sir?" Ashley, who was sat directly beside Leshia on the cramped first row bench, asked with a dreamy expression.

"Too many dear girl," Professor Lewis chuckled and all the girls smiled at him adoringly, while at the back Rodeo mimed something rude to his friends, who all started to laugh.

"Something wrong lads?" Professor Lewis asked genially, though his dark eyes seemed to shoot them a look of warning.

"No sir," Rodeo replied with as much attitude as he dared so early on in the term. On queue, Leshia and Katie spun around and stared firmly at the boy; what was his problem? He promptly ignored them, and continued to watch the teacher with a look that screamed arrogance.

"Very well," Professor Lewis continued uneasily. "As I was saying. Many years ago I was sitting where you are now thinking I knew everything there was to know about being a muggle as I had been one for eleven years." Across the classroom Damian Allseyer scowled. "I took this class because I thought I would get the best marks for doing the least amount of work, but boy was I wrong. Muggles are curious things; most are blissfully unaware of how anything in their world works. They take it very much for granted for example that with the flick of a switch a light goes on, or that they can watch something on their televisions at the same time that it is occurring on the other side of the world. We are here to learn about all these things, now don't be alarmed, it will be fun!" The class didn't seem convinced; after all most of them had taken this subject as a doss-around course. "As a treat, early on in the second term we are to take a field trip for the day into a big Muggle city."

As one, everyone in the class suddenly seemed to come alive. A field trip?

"Which city sir?" Helen Carter from Hufflepuff piped up.

"Well that is yet to be decided, but it will probably be the great city of Manchester."

"Wicked," a few children in the class (the ones who evidently knew the city or lived in the area) cheered.

"You'd have to work hard to show me that a trip into the muggle world would be worthwhile," Professor Lewis continued with a big smile. "But I promise you, it will be worth it."

XXX

After a surprisingly interesting lesson about muggle Space Travel (this term's topic was Muggle Innovations) the children rushed off to join the steady throng of people moving outside into the grounds for break. The summer was still going strong and the pull of the sun was just too great to withstand. Leshia, Rachel and Katie dropped down under a tree near the lake with equally as dreamy expressions on their faces.

"He was great wasn't he?" Katie sighed.

"What was wrong with Rodeo?" Rachel suddenly asked, the dreamy expression leaving her face as she flopped back onto the grass, her arms splayed out above her head, as she basked in the glorious sunshine.

"I think he doesn't like it that all the girls think Professor Lewis is lovely," Katie explained.

"But that's just stupid," Leshia complained as she investigated a scab on her knee. "I mean Professor Lewis is _old_, he even said so himself. It's not like everybody's going to start asking him out to tea in Hogsmeade now is it?"

"He's not that old Leesh, I'll bet he was at school the same time as our parents," Katie countered eliciting a big grin from Leshia.

"Last time I checked, our parents were old."

"Well yes, I suppose in comparison to us, but not really. I mean they're only thirty-three. My mum's always told me that most people only really start to have children in their thirties." Leshia feigned a large yawn, which caused Rachel to crack up on the grass. After avoiding Katie's meagre attempt at clapping her about the back of her head, Leshia's expression suddenly turned a little more serious.

"So when are we going to investigate the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Tonight?" Rachel suggested. Both Leshia and Katie stared at the redhead in surprise. Was Rachel really voluntarily suggesting they spend their second proper evening back at Hogwarts in the library? "Well think about it, we've got potions after break and I bet old Snape is going to give us a ton of homework, so we may as well kill two birds with one stone."

"Oh," Katie exclaimed and she brought her clasped hands up to her chest. "Our little Rachel is growing up."

"Shut up!" the redhead complained gleefully, before she dove at her cousin and started rubbing grass in her face to the joyous sounds of Leshia laughing herself silly. Break seamed too pass extraordinarily quickly and so the girls trudged inside with the rest of the school in order to head down to the dungeons. As they rounded the corner they met their classmates waiting outside Snape's dungeon.

"Unbelievable," Leshia muttered under her breath when she caught sight of who they were. "This is the third year running we've got potions with _them_, don't they ever rotate the order in this place?"

"Maybe Snape likes to keep I this way, you know, so he can be completely vile to us and then completely wonderful to the Slytherins. Sort of like ultimate punishment you know?" Rachel suggested.

"Yeah well it's not funny either way," Leshia grumbled and they joined the back of the line, trying to keep their backs turned to the despicable bullies that made up the third year Slytherins. For once Allseyer and his cronies managed to leave them alone while they waited impatiently for their teacher to arrive.

"Maybe he's not coming?" Rachel suggested cheerfully. No such luck. Professor Severus Snape was in a foul mood as he stormed down the corridor towards his third year class. On his way back from break, the greying teacher had been accosted by Peeves, who felt it was his duty to prevent the potions master from getting to his lesson. The manner in which the pesky poltergeist had attempted this was by pelting Snape with handfuls of the gravel from the drive. The old tyrant was sure one of the student's had put him up to it, as the annoying poltergeist seemed unusually tenacious; even Snape's most cruel hexes couldn't scare the damn cretin off.

"In!" Snape hissed at the class as he threw the door open and stalked in. After exchanging looks of trepidation (even the Slytherins seemed unsure about proceeding into their usual favourite lesson) the wary third years made their way in to their usual benches. After calling the register, Snape launched straight into his first wave of attacks on the Gryffindors. "All of you," he spat, glaring the Gryffindors down. "Performed poorly in your examinations in June. I'm still unsure whether your performance was due to lack of effort, or ability, but either way, I expect more from you this year." Leshia bit the insides of her mouth to stop herself from lashing out at the foul teacher; how on earth could she have exceeded an O? And she knew for a fact that Katie too had scored the top mark in their Potions exam at the end of second year. Snape was continuing with his spiel, this time looking to the Slytherins in the classroom,

"As for you lot, I was pleased with your progress and you should feel proud, but should you let your standards drop…" the ageing wizard trailed off and shook his head grumpily. "Where are your books?" he suddenly barked at the class and they hurried to take out their Potions textbooks. It seemed that most of the class had replaced their books over the summer as they had become quite battered over the last two years. Rachel and Leshia were not amongst those with the momentary foresight to predict Snape's wrath, and sporting a colossal burn mark along with the green crinkled pages from when a potion spilled all over it, Rachel's book was looking worse for wear, which seemed rather mild in comparison with the hole burnt clean through Leshia's.

"What. Are. Those?" Snape demanded icily as he stalked the aisles between the benches until he came across the girls.

"Um, our books?' Leshia replied, sounding cockier than she had intended. Snape's upper lip curled as he glared furiously at the blonde girl.

"Do you think it funny Malfoy, to show up to class with a book in this condition?" the teacher demanded as he lifted the book and peered at the girl through the hole.

"Um…no?" she replied hopefully.

"Detention and ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek!" Snape snapped out furiously. "You may join Miss Malfoy tomorrow evening Weasley, yours is just as bad."

"Professor Snape?" Leshia asked tentatively, trying to repent for her cheek so as she might not worsen her situation.

"I suppose you are going to tell me you have some prior engagement you cannot possibly get out of?" Professor Snape growled.

"Um actually, yes, I was."

"Well tough, you will have to _miss _it." With this the teacher waltzed to the front of the classroom and started his lesson, which Leshia and Rachel tried very hard to ignore. How dare he tell them off so badly for a crime so minor? Fine then, if he was going to be a pillock, then they refused to learn anything.

By the time dinner time arrived Leshia and Rachel were in foul moods. As though Snape's mood had been contagious the pair of them sat in a stony silence, eating the bare minimum and staring icily ahead. Whereas her friends had had an awful day, Katie had excelled, earning for her house fifteen housepoints and getting enough praise to even fill her high standards. Now she sat chatting with Rodeo, enjoying every moment of this wonderful day.

"I'll get my dad to go into London and get us some new books," Rachel finally spoke, eliciting a nod from her blonde friend.

"And I'll go tell my parents what a dragon Snape was today and get them to wheedle us out of detention tomorrow night," Leshia added.

"Ha, good one," Rachel grumbled. "Unless your dad uses the Imperius curse then we're booked for tomorrow Leesh."

"Well you never know, he might have no qualms about using the Imperius curse," Leshia said with a shrug, and although Rachel took this as a joke and burst out into joyous laughter (no doubt picturing the rotten old teacher being forced to do something hilarious under the curse's powers), Leshia had been deadly serious. Her father using the unforgivable curses didn't seem so far fetched after the information she had received before the summer.

XXX

Leshia was true to her word, and after dinner she set out through the corridors until she reached the painting of the Newlyweds that concealed the entrance to her parents' chambers. Scratching the foot of the smiling groom caused the painting to swing forward revealing a grand oak door, which Leshia had never found locked. Without thinking the girl pushed it open to find her parents sat on the settee enjoying a glass of a wine and each other's fine company.

"Leshia," they both exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

"What are you doing here darling?" Hermione asked with a smile and she held out her arm to her daughter. Leshia grinned with a shrug and slowly ambled over, dropping down next to her mother.

"Well, I wanted to ask a favour actually," the girl said simply, not seeing any point in beating about the bush; her parents knew her well and could probably already guess why she had com – Leshia had long known that when a student had detention, all the other teachers automatically seemed to find out; this had resulted in Leshia getting in more trouble than was necessary when Hermione found out about various punishments she would rather have kept hidden.

"I've already had a word with Severus," Draco exclaimed before Leshia had had a chance to plead her case. "He was extremely reluctant, but I managed to wear him down in the end. He'll discuss your new punishment with you in your next lesson." Leshia furrowed her brow.

"Oh…thanks," she managed after a while.

"Well that is why you've come isn't it?" Draco enquired curiously with an amused smile on his face.

"Yes, but…" Leshia trailed off, why was she fighting this? She'd got what she wanted. And yet part of her was still a little angry. Surely her father had no right to go interfering in her private affairs without her say so?

"Leshia," Hermione laughed. "Leave it be. Now, other than getting detention so soon – which I am not happy about by the way – how have your first days been?"

"Great," the girl replied brightly. "But you know it's hardly my fault that old Snape gave me detention…"

"Professor Snape Leshia," Draco cut in.

"I mean yeah, my book's a little battered, but that doesn't warrant a detention does it?"

"A little battered? He told me there's a great big hole straight through it," Draco chuckled. Leshia stared at her father with a hard look and for a moment Draco frowned in confusion. The tension was so evident that Hermione actually shuddered. "What's the matter with you?" Draco asked sounding more and more like Professor Malfoy than the dad Leshia had always known.

"I'm tired," Leshia replied stiltedly and she climbed to her feet.

"Leshia darling, don't be like this, what's wrong?" Hermione pressed looking equally as confused as her husband.

"I'll see you tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to your lesson mum," the girl managed before she scarpered through the door leaving her parents staring at one another in complete confusion. Outside Leshia was chewing her lower lip seemingly distraught – what _was_ the matter with her? It seemed every chance she got she was finding some excuse to be mad with her father, and when she wasn't mad at him, she was fearful and mistrustful of his intentions. Damn Lucius! Damn him for casting such doubt in her mind over the father she had always loved so dearly. Feeling entirely rotten she trudged back to the common room, trying to think of ways she could make it up to her father the next day. Perhaps she ought to tell him what she knew, tell him what her grandfather had told her, and then see if there was any truth to his poisonous words? Didn't her father at least deserve an explanation for her madness?

"But what if it's true?" Leshia whispered to herself outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"What if what's true?" the precocious madam in the painting demanded. Leshia stared at her in surprise.

"Um…uh…"

"Either spit it out or run along, you're wasting my time here," the portrait chided.

"To be quite frank, it's none of your damn business," Leshia finally managed indignantly.

"Why I never…"

"Goldilocks," the girl said firmly cutting the Fat Lady off mid sentence and glaring fiercely at the nosy portrait. After returning Leshia's glare tenfold the portrait swung forward rather rapidly just barely missing Leshia's face by an inch. Not wanting to get into a fight she couldn't win (after all, how would one fight with a portrait) Leshia ignored the impertinence of the painting and darted inside wanting more than anything to curl up on one of the sofas and ignore everything. There was no chance she was going to the library tonight, as had been their plan. Yes, Snape had given them a four-foot essay to do on some obscure potion they had never heard of and would never find a use for, but she was in no mood to scour the shelves for any information on the Order of the Phoenix; the fact that they inevitably never found anything was too depressing for the girl. She was beginning to loathe secrets more than anything else in the world.

Walking into the common room Leshia suddenly stopped in her tracks, as there, sat squeezed up against one another on the settee in the corner (often dubbed the 'love seat' by the more mischievous youngsters in the tower) were Katie and Rodeo. Rachel was sat nearby, shooting them shifty glances every once in a while in order to see that they weren't doing anything that they shouldn't. Upon Leshia's entry however, the redhead's face went bright red and she jumped to her feet.

"Leesh!" she exclaimed loudly, and in the corner Katie too jumped to her feet, acting as though barely seconds before she hadn't been pressed up against the boy she and Leshia held so dear. "And?"

For a moment Leshia's chest rose and fell dramatically, as though she were trying to keep in either sob or a scream of frustration, before she managed to regain control of her senses and make her way over to the settee Rachel had just been commandeering – the girl had been enjoying herself immensely by stopping the first years (primarily her little sister Emelia) from taking a seat.

"He's already spoken to Snape, apparently we're going to hear about our new punishment in our next lesson," Leshia sighed heavily and she stared into the fire looking as though the entire weight of the world was resting on her shoulders.

"You don't seem happy about it," Rachel said with a frown and she peered over her shoulder to see Katie still stood beside Rodeo, staring at the back of Leshia's head with a strange pale look. "Look, if it's about those two, it doesn't mean anything, they're just…" Leshia started to laugh; a forced, cold and pained sounding laugh.

"It's not about them, really," she said firmly. "In fact, I couldn't care less what they do." Nobody who heard these words would later attest to Leshia meaning a jot of them, but at the time, nobody said anything.

"Well then what is it?" Rachel asked sounding concerned for her friend. Lifting her large grey eyes to her friend's kind face Leshia felt as though she could tell her everything.

"When Lucius…" she began, but at this moment Katie sat down delicately on her other side, perching on the edge of the sofa looking most uncomfortable. The moment was gone.

"When Lucius what?" Rachel pressed, but Leshia shook her head firmly.

"No, nothing, it doesn't matter. Look I'm going to go and read or something." With this the blonde girl climbed to her feet and headed up the stairs without another word to her friends.

"What?" Katie demanded when she noticed Rachel was glaring firmly at her. "I heard what she said as well as you did. She doesn't care Rachel! Something else was bothering her."

"Yes, but I could have found out what that something is if you hadn't of planted yourself down at that exact moment," Rachel grumbled, though a smile pulled at her lips to show she didn't really mean it.

"Whatever it is," Katie sighed and she leaned back beside her cousin. "It must be pretty big if it's to do with her grandfather."

XXX

By the following morning Leshia had cheered up considerably. Things always seemed worse at night she thought to herself, and with the breaking of another beautiful day, she hadn't the heart to feel worried about her father. Of course Lucius had made it up, her father was a good man and he would never have hurt her mother or Harry, Ron and all the others. She did feel awful about how she had treated her dad though, and she vowed that she would make it up to him.

Katie and Rachel were very happy to see that their usually charismatic ringleader was back to normal when they awoke to find her grinning at them apologetically. No more was said on the matter and they dressed in an amiable silence before making their way down to breakfast.

"We've got Herbology first haven't we?" Rachel asked cheerfully as they sat down at their places and tucked into the usual feast that awaited them.

"Yep, let's hope we're going to do something decent this year," Leshia said happily.

"What, you didn't like Mandrakes?" Katie asked and after sniggering gleefully, Rachel and Leshia realised their raven-haired friend wasn't in fact joking.

"Katie, I'll pretend you didn't say that."

"Hey look at that, Allseyer seems pleased with himself," Leshia remarked sounding a little putout, and on queue Katie and Rachel looked across the Great Hall and saw that indeed, Damian Allseyer was grinning at his friends evidently extremely pleased with himself. "What's he got to grin about?"

"Maybe he finally figured out how to tie his shoelaces without any help?" Rachel suggested.

"He's probably expecting something exciting in the post," Katie countered. "Don't worry about him Leesh." Leshia nodded absent-mindedly, agreeing that Allseyer's moods were really none of her concern and that she really oughtn't care why he was deliriously happy by the looks of things, but there was a niggling doubt in the back of her mind that told her otherwise.

"Morning ladies," Rodeo's cheerful greeting came before he dropped down opposite them. Katie grinned brightly at him; a grin he returned tenfold. Leshia desperately wanted to roll her eyes, but she restrained herself and looked down at her breakfast. Her restraint lasted through till Herbology, when they took their places around the central planter in greenhouse two and Rodeo went to stand with Parys. The previous day they had started planting puffapods, which they carried on with. Herbology was always a favoured lesson as the children rarely had to work in silence (only on such occasions where Professor Sprout was having an uncharacteristic bad day) and the lessons always involved the bare minimum of note taking.

Herbology couldn't have contrasted more with the third year Gryffindors' next lesson: History of Magic. Professor Binns, the ghost responsible of imparting upon the pupils that passed through Hogwarts with knowledge of the eons of magical history that had gone before, was in a particularly dull mood on this occasion and by the time he had finished lecturing the dozy youngsters they burst out into the grounds in order to expel the energy they had built up during their brief naps during the boring lesson.

"I didn't think it was possible, but old Binns is even _more_ boring this year!" Leshia complained as she and the girls dropped down underneath their usual tree. Rachel rolled her eyes with a grin.

"I wonder what your mum's class is going to be like," Katie pondered as she rolled onto her front and looked up the bank to where the boys were playing a football game.

"Hopefully she hasn't been taking teacher's lessons from Binns," Rachel exclaimed with wide eyes. "Can you imagine?"

"Hey!" Leshia laughed. "My mum is not as boring as old Binns, there's no way!"

"I wonder if she'll be as strict as your dad," Katie chimed in.

"Last year Amy and Sarah told me she was a really good teacher," Leshia complained defensively. "Besides, the best bit about her lesson is that there's no way we're going to come across that rat Allseyer." With this happy thought Leshia rolled onto the ground and followed Katie's dreamy gaze to the boys. "What do they see in that game?" Leshia pondered aloud.

"They're boys, who knows," Rachel sighed as she joined her friends on her front. Aware that they suddenly had an audience Rodeo and Parys took it upon themselves to entertain the young ladies. As a result the girls had to rush inside to the toilets from laughing themselves into desperately needing to go – the boys' attempts at showing off had been far too hilarious. The bell for their next lesson was ringing as they rushed in.

"Be quick, if we're late my dad'll go ballistic," Leshia informed her friends as they burst into three cubicles. Needless to say, the girls didn't need telling twice and within minutes they had met up once more and rushed towards the door. It didn't budge and the three girls bounced off it and onto the tiled floor.

"Yuck!" Katie exclaimed angrily and she leapt to her feet – she had been the only one to unfortunately land in a puddle. "What's wrong with the door?" The raven-haired girl pushed into it firmly as the other two climbed to their feet, but it wouldn't move.

"Someone locked us in," Rachel exclaimed in surprise. The three girls looked to one another with wide eyes as the bell rang signifying the start of their next lesson, which they were now consequently missing.

"Help!" they cried out simultaneously. For ten minutes they called out for help; a call that was not answered.

"What are we going to do?" Leshia demanded frantically. "We can't be late again! My dad'll think I hate him, especially after the way I behaved last night."

"How did you behave last night?" Rachel asked with a frown.

"I didn't even think you could lock these doors," Katie pondered with a frown, she hadn't been listening to the other two, as she was far too caught up in her own thoughts.

"Katie be quiet," Rachel admonished as the blonde girl shrunk away under Rachel's firm questioning gaze. "Leesh _what _is going on with you and your dad? You've been funny with him for ages."

"There's nothing going on," Leshia complained and she turned her wand on the door.

"I wouldn't, it won't work," Katie grumbled – feeling putout that Rachel had dismissed her.

"_Alohamora_," the blonde girl uttered, but the door didn't budge.

"As I was saying," Katie explained deliberately. "It won't work, because the door hasn't got a lock."

"Well then how…" Rachel began with a frown.

"Allseyer!" Leshia said triumphantly, a look of anger morphing onto her pretty face. "It's _got _to be, that's why he was so happy with himself." Rachel and Katie chose to ignore their friend, now wasn't the time to be pointing the finger; now was the time for trying to find a way out of their rather unpleasant prison.

"We could try blasting the door out," Rachel suggested thoughtfully, eliciting a very unladylike snigger out of Katie.

"After you," she sniggered.

"What? You don't think that I can do it?"

"Well, do you know any 'blasting out the way' spells?" Katie asked with a smug look. For a moment Rachel fumed, before she eventually realised her plan wouldn't work and she shook her head. "No, I'd say we're stuck until someone comes along and tries to get in," Katie sighed.

"But that could be ages, nobody ever uses these toilets," Leshia complained.

"Lunch at least," Rachel agreed. "I mean we only use it on our way in or out to the grounds don't we?" Feeling incredibly downhearted the girls sunk to the ground beside the door. Katie felt incredibly upset to be missing any lessons at all, but especially to be missing their first ever Ancient Runes lesson; now she wasn't going to know what the whole subject was about. Rachel felt mortified to know she was going to have to spend two or more hours in a lavatory; talk about mortifying! Leshia however, arguably felt the worst; not only was she horrified over what her father was thinking at that moment in time (she desperately didn't want him to think she hated him), but her mother was going to be terribly upset that she was missing her first lesson.

"So, if we do ever get out of here, should we go to the library and research the order?" Katie suggested.

"Can't," Leshia replied simply. "Got quidditch tryouts haven't I?"

"What, you're trying out again?" Rachel asked with a frown. Leshia grinned and shook her head.

"We could check in our free period after lunch though."

"That's if there is an after lunch," Rachel grumbled.

"Where shall we look?" Katie asked. "I mean, there's thousands of books in there, where on earth will we begin?"

"The index cards?" Leshia suggested.

"I doubt there's a book entitled 'All you ever wanted to know about the Order of the Phoenix' Leesh," Rachel sniggered.

"You know, I hate to admit that there's something the library can't help us with," Katie began slowly. "But I really think we should ask our parents on this one." Rachel nodded in agreement while Leshia's head sunk forward a little and her large eyes drooped to the ground. This movement did not go unnoticed by her friends.

"Leshia please," Rachel begged. "Tell us what's going on?" Silence filled the bathroom only broken sporadically by a leaky tap. The looks of hurt and concern on her friends' faces was too much for Leshia to bear and she finally decided it was time to explain what she knew.

"When my grandfather kidnapped me, he…he told me something…" she began shakily. "Something about my dad." The other two stayed absolutely silent as Leshia paused for a moment, staring off into space as her grandfather's words replayed themselves in her mind, '_His intention was to betray them_.'

"What was it?" Rachel finally asked ever so gently when Leshia seemed to get stuck in the memories she had been running from for many months.

"He said that when my dad turned to the other side…turned to the good side and joined our parents against Voldemort, he was going to betray them." Katie and Rachel frowned; they knew very little about their parents' past, only that they had fought against Voldemort for many years until finally together they all had a hand in defeating him in the Battle of the Ages, with Harry and Draco doing the final deed of killing him. "My dad wasn't a good person," Leshia continued quietly. "I mean you know he was enemies with my mum and your dads right? Well he joined them because he wanted to betray them. He was feeding the enemy information on them. He must have been responsible for so many deaths! Maybe he was even planning on killing them!"

"Leesh…" Rachel began, but there were no words to express how confused she was feeling. Draco, the man she had always feared a little, but never felt was a real threat because he was…well…Draco. This man they had all grown up with was a traitor?

"He must be lying," Katie said firmly, though she seemed a little shaken. A flicker of hope crossed Leshia's face.

"That's what I was thinking," she said softly.

"He was juts trying to turn you against your family Leesh. You shouldn't think about it anymore!" Katie continued. "I mean this is your dad we're talking about. He helped _kill _Voldemort! Why on earth would he do that if he was working for him in secret?" Feeling renewed by Katie, ever-sensible Katie, Leshia nodded firmly this time.

"I know."

"Did you tell him what Lucius said?" Rachel asked.

"Are you mad?" Leshia demanded amusedly. "Of course I didn't." A comfortable silence followed in which Leshia's trust and faith in her father gradually started to restore itself. Of course Lucius had been lying. Of course her father was a good, kind and honest man…okay, so he was a good and honest man.

"Want to play exploding snap?" Rachel eventually broke the silence.

"With what?" Leshia asked with a frown. "Our imaginations?"

"No you idiot, with these." With a triumphant smile Rachel pulled a pack of wizard cards from her satchel.

"Rachel! You genius!"

XXX

Hermione smiled broadly as she opened the door to welcome in her third-year class. They all seemed to bright-eyed and eager in comparison with the seventh years she had just taught.

"Welcome," she told them happily as they all took a seat in the small classroom lined with fascinating artefacts covered in runes. On each of desk stood a small slab of varying shapes and sized, each littered with runes of some sort or other. The children began studying the slabs interestedly as Hermione peered out into the corridor. Where were Leshia and her friends? After waiting longer than she should of for her daughter Hermione returned to the front of the class with a slightly fallen expression.

"I'm Professor Granger," she told the class with forced-brightness, telling them the name she had been going by to avoid confusion between herself and her husband. "Um…I don't suppose any of you know where Miss Malfoy, Miss Potter and Miss Weasley are?" she asked the class with a concerned frown. Only one youngster seemed to have any information on their whereabouts (or lack thereof).

"They weren't in our last lesson," Julius Black explained seriously, as though he himself was wondering where they were.

"Really?" Hermione asked worriedly, imagining her husband's reaction to their daughter missing his lesson.

"Rodeo Holsson and Parys Jackson said they'd been out on the grounds at break and went in right before the bell, but no one's seen them since." After a moment of silence in which Hermione felt incredibly downhearted, she forced a smile onto her face and shook her head.

"Never mind," she managed. "So, onto today's lesson. I suppose you're all wondering what these strange old pieces of rock are all about…"

The third years enjoyed Hermione's lesson immensely and as they left they were all chattering with big smiled over how this was their new favourite lesson. The young woman wished she could say their enthusiasm made up for the pain she felt at thinking Leshia had skived her first lesson, but it couldn't. With a heavy sigh she went about clearing away the slabs of rune-inscribed rock. In the distance she could hear the fast and long-loping strides of her husband coming to tell her no-doubt about their daughter's antics. She was not mistaken.

"Leshia missed my lesson," Draco's voice came moments before he appeared in the doorway. Hermione gave him a grim smile.

"Mine too." For a moment Draco inhaled and exhaled slowly as he grinded his teeth together with a most unpleasant expression. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation…" Hermione began calmly.

"Your damn right there is, that child is turning into a disrespectful little…"

"Draco!" Hermione admonished sternly. "Don't be ridiculous, she's not doing this to hurt us."

"Oh no? You saw her last night, she's angry with me for some reason."

"You're imagining things," Hermione countered firmly. "She's a teenager now darling, it's only natural for her to be moody. She wouldn't just miss our lessons for no reason, don't you remember? Last night she seemed excited about my lesson." Draco sighed heavily and leant against his wife's cluttered desk.

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, let's go to lunch and see if she's there, and if not, we'll have to look for her after lessons are through."

"But…" Draco began with an exasperated expression.

"Draco," Hermione chuckled. "We can't just forget that we have classes to teach." Draco sighed heavily, but he nodded all the same.

"That girl had better have a good excuse!"

XXX

The hours passed very slowly in the bathroom Leshia, Rachel and Katie had been holed up in. Their exploding snap game had lasted for the majority of the time, but as soon as the lunch bell went they leant back against the door calling out for help. Nobody came and as the last bell went signifying the start of afternoon lessons the girls couldn't help but feel incredibly upset and depressed.

"We're going to die in here aren't we?" Rachel moaned grimly.

"Don't be silly Rachel," Katie complained while Leshia sniggered, and the girls lapsed into silence, which was only broken when suddenly all three girls spun around and looked behind themselves at the wall they had been leaning against.

"You felt it too…" Rachel began, but she was silenced by a severe look from the other two. After a few moments of silence all three girls relaxed.

"Yes," Leshia finally replied.

"It was as if we were being watched," Katie said with a shudder. "It was really scary."

"I don't think…I don't think we're alone," Leshia said softly looking to her friends with vulnerable eyes. As one the three girls jumped to their feet and started screaming again,

"Help!" This time the girls did not stop shouting until they finally got a reply.

"Who's in there?" the voice of a girl they didn't recognise came.

"Hello?" Katie exclaimed jubilantly. "Is there someone there?"

"Yes. Why is the door locked?" the girl's voice came.

"We don't know, we can't get out! We've been locked in here since break!" Leshia cried out.

"Hang on, I'm going to get help." With this the sound of rushing footsteps could be hear moving away and the girls looked to one another with big smiles. The help the girl brought was the very unpleasant Argus Filch who pried the door off the hinges with a very large piece of metal. It seemed the bolt had fused against the wall. Looking like he very much wanted to punish the girls, Filch eventually stalked off realising that three third years couldn't possible have caused such damage.

"I have to go and see my parents!" Leshia told her friends urgently and she started racing off down the corridor.

"Leshia! They'll be in the middle of a lesson!" Katie called after the blonde girl, but she was gone. With a sigh Katie and Rachel started walking in the other direction in order to find Professor McGonagall and explain what had happened. Leshia sprinted as fast as she could to the closest of her parents' classrooms: the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. She could hear her father voice inside and after realising that she was in fact terrified of what he was going to say, she knocked firmly on the door. After he had finished his sentence, her reply came,

"Come in," the firm and somewhat angry voice of her father came. Leshia winced, but pushed the door open nonetheless to meet her father's coolly angry face. The class, the same first years who had been terrified in their first lesson with Professor Malfoy when he had discovered the state of his notes and books on that first Monday, looked up with matching terrified expressions to see who had interrupted their frightening teacher's lecture.

"Um, can I speak to you?" Leshia managed worriedly. For a moment it looked as though Draco was going to ignore his daughter, as he looked to the class and paused for a few seconds.

"Excuse me," he finally told them and he started making his way over to the door. "Start reading chapter three." Leshia backed into the corridor as he shut the door behind himself and looked on Leshia with crossed arms and a highly unpleasant expression.

"I didn't skive your lesson dad!" Leshia quickly exclaimed.

"Oh no?" Draco interrupted and he uncrossed his arms and stared at the girl incredulously. "So I suppose I was imaging your empty seat then?"

"No, I know I wasn't there," Leshia replied desperately.

"Well then where were you? And more to the point, why did you have to hurt your mother by not showing up for her lesson either? How can you have been so heartless? Fine, you're angry with me for some strange secret reason, but why did you have to hurt your mother?" Leshia frowned.

"No you don't understand…"

"Well you're not exactly explaining it very well," Draco said angrily.

"You're not letting me get a word in edgeways!" Leshia complained, feeling a little angry herself. Draco went silent and stared at his daughter through narrowed eyes. Leshia winced and tried to make an apologetic face. "We were locked in the bathroom by the west door." Draco frowned.

"The bathrooms don't have locks on them," he finally said darkly.

"Yeah I know, but this one was fused shut. Mr Filch had to pry the door off. Honestly! You can ask him!"

"How and why did you fuse a door shut? What the hell were you trying to do?"

"We didn't do it! Someone else did while we were in there," Leshia countered defensively. "Look dad I'm really really sorry, but I didn't skive your lesson, _or_ mum's. And I'm not angry with you at all, I'm really sorry about last night too, I was just in a bad mood." Silence filled the corridor while Leshia's grey eyes held her father's identical eyes with pleading in her expression, willing him to believe her and stop being hurt by her actions. Finally sighed heavily and his expression softened.

"You'd better go tell your mother," he said calmly. Leshia grinned broadly, her whole body visibly relaxing, before she threw her arms around her father's shoulders. "Yes okay," Draco grumbled, but he sounded amused. "Go on, I have a lesson to teach." Leshia pulled away with a beaming smile.

"You should go easy on them, they looks scared to death."

XXX

Hermione accepted Leshia's explanation much more readily and she felt very much relieved by Leshia's explanation of what had happened. Rachel and Katie had had a harder time convincing Professor McGonagall of their nightmarish experience in the bathroom and had eventually begged her to ask Filch over what had happened. He was more than willing to explain that some toe rags had damaged the door and after this Professor McGonagall was more willing to take the girls' words for it.

Leshia met up with them in the common room where Rodeo and Parys were questioning them over what had happened. This inquisition lasted until the final bell of the day rang and Leshia excused herself in order to get changed for Quidditch. Rachel and Katie were coming to watch, so as soon as the blonde girl reappeared dressed in her training clothes, they excused themselves and rushed off to the pitch where several hopefuls were already gathered around Mila.

Leshia slinked off to the side where Tom and Luke were poking fun at many of the youngsters trying out for the two chaser and keeper positions on the cup-winning team. Needless to say when Leshia reached them she instantly became the subject of their teasing and they questioned her on her experience in the bathrooms.

"How did you know?" Leshia asked with a frown.

"We know everything young Malfoy," Tom said cheerfully. Leshia frowned even more.

"You didn't…" she began worriedly, suspecting the cousins of foul play.

"Leshia! We're shocked and insulted," Luke exclaimed sounding pompous, though an amused smile pulled at his freckled face.

"We can't take credit for this one Leesh," Tom added with a shrug. "Besides, if we were going to do something so funny…"

"Tom!" Leshia complained.

"We wouldn't have picked you lot. Can't involve the family now can we?" Tom finished with a grin.

"Oh. My. God," Luke suddenly exclaimed sounding completely beside himself.

"What?" the other two questioned.

"Owen Gabriel is finally trying out for the team!"

"Who's Owen Gabriel?" Leshia asked curiously turning to look in the direction of the hopefuls. She had heard the name of the fourth year boy before, but had never found any reason to wonder who he was, it seemed that perhaps she should have. Tom was equally as excited as his cousin at the prospect of the young man trying out for the team.

"With him on side there's no way we can possibly lose!" Tom exclaimed gleefully.

"Who is he?"

"Only the best quidditch player in the whole school!" Luke replied happily. "His mum's the legendary Lucy Gabriel…"

"The new England Goalie?" Leshia gasped.

"The very same, she's been training this one since he was in nappies. He's already been booked to play for the Wimbourne Wasps as soon as he turns seventeen," Tom explained.

"That's why he hasn't been playing for us, they've got some sort of deal that means he can't play at school, but I guess that's changed," Luke added.

"Which one is he?" Leshia asked curiously, eager to lay eyes on this supposedly magnificent quidditch player. None of the hopefuls seemed to stand out.

"Come on, we'll introduce you," Tom said cheerfully. "He's all right that Owen." Leshia followed the two redheads eagerly sizing up the hopefuls trying to guess which one was Owen Gabriel, until finally the cousins came to a halt in front of the most unlikely suspect. Tall and on the thin side, Owen Gabriel was as normal as anyone could have imagined. With nondescript dark brown hair cut in a short style and hazel eyes he didn't seem to have classic good looks, yet there was something about his cheeky smile as he greeted the cousins that Leshia found appealing.

"Owen mate, what are you doing here?" Luke asked happily.

"Trying out I suppose," Owen replied in a surprisingly deep voice.

"But what about your contract thing?" Tom pressed. Owen grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"They changed their minds, figured I could do with the extra practice."

"Aw mate that's so unbelievably cool!" Luke crowed. "Oh yeah, this is Leshia by the way, she's our seeker." Leshia shot Luke a playful glare for introducing her as though she were an afterthought.

"Yeah I know," Owen said and he turned his playful eyes onto Leshia. Something about his look reminded the girl of her dearly missed ex-captain and practically older brother Ryan Lofting. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah you too," she said. "So you're really Lucy Gabriel's son?" Owen chuckled.

"Are you really Draco Malfoy's daughter?" Leshia grinned and nodded; fair enough, it had been an annoying question that he probably got all the time. Ever since Lucy Gabriel had taken up the position as England Keeper in the summer she had been at the centre of the press' attention for being fantastically brilliant.

"I'll bet Mila won't make you try out, you should be a shoe-in," Luke exclaimed, already bored by Leshia's small talk with the prodigal keeper. Owen Gabriel chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed way. Leshia likened this mannerism to Ryan Lofting and felt a little stab of pain when she thought of him not being around anymore. Her attention was soon caught by two youngsters she hadn't seen in a while arriving at the pitch.

It seemed it was the day for quidditch players' offspring to try out for the team, as Jaime and Eliot Wood, two second years who had just ambled onto the pitch, were the daughters of Oliver Wood, who played keeper for Scotland. Leshia excused herself from the young men and made her way over to them.

"Hi!" she called to them brightly. "I didn't know you two were trying out. What positions are you going for?"

"Hi," the girls replied happily and explained that their father had not let them leave the house to catch the train before they promised that they would try out this year for the team he had once captained many years ago. It transpired that Jaime was going for one of the chaser positions and Eliot had her hopes on Keeper; hopes that were dashed as soon as her eyes fell on the tall form of Owen Gabriel.

"Crap," the young girl exclaimed earning her a look of reprove from her sister. "I didn't know he was trying out." Leshia winced when she realised who Eliot had spotted.

"Who?" Jaime questioned and she peered in the direction of the group and soon saw what had her sister so concerned. "Ah."

"You should still try out," Leshia told the younger girl firmly, but Eliot turned on her with a grin.

"To be honest, this is sort of a good copout for me. Dad can't complain when he finds out Owen Gabriel's on the team."

"You sound like you didn't want to join," Leshia remarked with a smile.

"She didn't," Jaime said simply with a shrug. "But dad can't stand the thought of his only children not being quidditch enthusiasts." The three girls chatted about how overbearing fathers could be when they had their mind set on something until finally Mila called a start to the tryouts.

Leshia made herself useful by being sent after errant quaffles whenever hopeful chasers or keepers sent them flying awry. Most of the hopefuls were dire and Leshia was sure they had only come because they heard Owen Gabriel was going to be trying out and they either hoped they'd get lucky and get on the team or they just wanted to get the chance to try their luck at scoring against the boy. Jaime Wood was definitely one of the better ones and privately Leshia felt that the girl had performed well enough to secure a spot on the team.

By the time it was Owen Gabriel's turn to shine Leshia had made her way over to Rachel and Katie, who had been watching the poor standard of the players with suppressed giggles. Together they watched in amazement as the young man shined. He was staggering, making absolutely spectacular saves even when there were several people trying to score simultaneously. Not one ball passed through the golden hoops and as he flew back down to the ground everyone was cheering appreciatively. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind; Owen Gabriel was the new Gryffindor Keeper and with his expert help, they were going straight to the top.

XXX

Jaime Wood did make chaser (the other spot being filled by a fifth year by the name of Jocelyn Jones, who preferred to go by the much less obtrusive Joss and had for many a year been waiting for her chance to make it onto the team) and to celebrate the appointment of the three new quidditch players Tom and Luke had been down to the kitchens and collected a vast amount of food and drink for the house to enjoy.

Happy that for once they weren't the ones who had been volunteered for food and drink collection the girls enjoyed themselves immensely and got to bed far too late ensuring that throughout the following day they felt incredibly sorry for themselves. Their Potions lesson after lunch was particularly painful (especially considering it was followed by History of Magic) when Leshia and Rachel found out that their new punishment involved giving up their first Saturday back.

The fact that the girls, along with Rodeo and Parys, still had their detention with Draco to fulfil was at the back of their minds all-day and so feeling incredibly miserable the five Gryffindor third years made their way to Draco's study. Once more Leshia was volunteered by her friends as being the first one to knock and so she did. Draco opened to the door to them personally, seemingly suspicious that the five youngsters were on time.

"Classroom," he told them simply, and he led the way out into the corridor and through to his classroom where the tables and chairs had been cleared to the side. Five boxes lay labelled on the ground around the vast pile of destroyed and disarrayed papers and books.

"You said we wouldn't we sorting through this stuff," Leshia complained sounding upset. Draco stared at her firmly.

"Deal with it," he told her amusedly. In truth, he had had something else planned for the tardy youngsters, but in the time that had passed since he had doled out their detention he had made barely any progress on the vast pile of strewn papers. He needed help, and all his detentionees had so far been helping him. With an exasperated groan Leshia was the first to sit down on the ground next to the pile of paper. The others quickly rushed to join her while Draco explained the sorting system he had devised. Once the youngsters had grasped the system he left them to it, returning to his study to start marking the work he'd already set and had returned by some poor class or other.

"This is houself work," Parys grumbled in a whisper, aware that Draco was within hearing range. Leshia snorted amusedly and nodded.

"You said it," she agreed happily. The youngsters chatted in a subdued way as they sorted through the incredibly boring papers (how could a subject so full of inter4esting potential yield such boring books and papers the children wondered) until finally Rodeo found something of interest.

"Hey look," he said quietly as he held up some faded wizarding pictures. "Isn't that your mum?" Leshia peered over his shoulder and saw that indeed her mother's youthful seventeen-year-old face was smiling out of the picture in which she recognised several other people including Harry, Ron, Ginny, several other Weasley youths, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin and Grandma and Grandpa Weasley. Up in his study Leshia heard her father climb from his chair all set on sending the youngsters on their way, so she quickly snatched the pictures from Rodeo and stuffed them down her jumper just as Draco appeared in his study door.

"Go on then," he told them. "Off with you. Just don't be late again!" The children didn't need telling twice and within no time they had scarpered. Only once they were safely back inside their common room did Leshia pull out the pictures to show her friends.

"What could this mean?" Katie asked as she examined a picture showing their seventeen-year-old parents laughing in a strange mottled looking corridor. "Where is this place?"

"Do you think…" Leshia began excitedly as she looked at the picture of the large group of people including their parents. "Do you think this could be the Order of the Phoenix?"

XXX

Later that evening, after the girls had exhausted the possibility that the picture was showing them the possible meeting place and members of the Order of the Phoenix to the point that they were sick of the sight of the faded photographs, Emelia, Rachel's younger sister and new first year Gryffindor, approached the trio of best friends cautiously.

"Rachel, I need to talk to you," the small auburn-haired girl said worriedly. Rachel looked at her little sister with a frown.

"What do you want squirt?"

"I just wanted to see if something was…well, normal."

"Well spit it out." Emelia smiled awkwardly.

"All day my friends and I," the small girl began as she indicated over her shoulder at two small first years she had already become firm friends with. "Have felt like we've been followed."

"What do you mean followed?" Leshia asked curiously.

"Well we've been getting the shivers, like there's someone standing right behind us or something. It's really scary! We've got the creeps!" the small girl explained worriedly. Leshia, Rachel and Katie exchanged a significant look before Rachel turned back on her little sister.

"You're being silly," she admonished. "Bug off and stop fantasising about weird stuff." Emelia cast her older sister a tired look, before she turned on heal and stormed off.

"That was a bit mean," Katie said softly.

"Well this way she's going to be too mad at me to worry isn't she?" Rachel explained with a worried frown. Leshia grinned fondly at her friend; Rachel always liked to pretend she couldn't stand her younger sisters, but secretly she cared deeply for them and she would rather have Emelia furious with her than have the young girl worry about being followed by sinister entities. "Do you think they've sensed the same thing we did?" the redhead asked softly. Katie and Leshia's silence confirmed that yes; this is exactly what they thought. "Oh," Rachel groaned. Leshia looked very gravely from one friend to the next before she spoke grimly,

"Whatever it is, something's not right at Hogwarts this year."

XXXXXXXXXXX

End of Part II

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	3. Part Three

**Generations: The Blue Lions**

**Part III**

That night the girls went to bed worrying about the seemingly changing nature of their school and home. Even last year when Leshia had been stalked by her grandfather and bullied by Damian Allseyer and his gang of hooligans, she had not experienced the overwhelming ominous feeling she had experienced in the bathrooms; it had felt truly evil.

By morning they had all but forgotten about it as they rushed to get dressed into their uniforms and make their way down to breakfast fifteen minutes late. As a result they were relegated to the spaces at the end of the table right in front of the teachers table, which resulted in very subdued breakfast chatter while Leshia stole glances at her parents to find they were wrapped up in some conversation seemingly staring adoringly into one another's eyes.

"Uh, it's enough to make my stomach turn," she grumbled fondly, as she looked back to her friends with a wry grin, but she soon regretted her words when she noticed Rachel hang her head with pain creasing her pretty face. Feeling very insensitive to her best friend's current situation at home Leshia didn't need Katie's heel to dig into her toes for her to regret her words. "Ow," Leshia complained and she glared at the raven-haired girl. "I know I was an insensitive prat, you didn't have to break half my toes." To the girls' surprise Rachel snorted with laughter and the took this as a good sign and decided to leave it be. Evidently the state of Ron and Lavender's marriage was further deteriorating and without any idea why Leshia and Katie didn't have the heart to question Rachel on it and force the redhead to tell them the ins and outs of the problem. Rachel had always been the one to keep her emotions close to her chest, ever since they were in nappies, which could not contrast to her friends.

In their baby years Leshia had entertained herself with the endless desire to run away; indeed if Hermione and Draco turned their backs on the mischievous girl for one minute she would be gone. However, whenever her plans were interrupted (and she was retrieved from whatever hedge she had crawled into) the girl would let rip, resulting in her being a very loud baby. Katie was quite the opposite, she had always clung to Ginny as a baby, and should the then very young woman attempt to load the girl off on Harry, the infant would cry and cry and cry. She had been the whimpery sort, crying several times a day for no apparent reason. By the end of the first week Ginny had been ready to send her back. Rachel had been different; she had been the happiest of infants, always seeming an angel in the company of her loud friends. She had been the envy of poor frazzled Hermione and Ginny for many a year.

The flutter of dozens of wings filled the hall as the post owls swooped in to bring to their targets letters, parcels and unwanted howlers. The girls were not expecting anything, so were quite pleasantly surprised when a large tawny owl they all recognised swooped down between them carrying a large parcel wrapped in brown paper. Feeling exhausted and famished from carrying such a heavy load the bird known as Wallace (Rachel's family's shared owl) drank greedily from Rachel's goblet of orange juice before he swept back into the skies having been lightened of his load.

"Wow, dad was quick," Rachel said with a smile as she tore the paper of the parcel revealing two brand new copies of their Potions textbook _Magical Drafts and Potions_. Ron had indeed rushed straight out to get the books once he'd received word from his daughter of Snape's bullying of them on account of their shabby texts. And to make up for their punishment (which has been moved to the entire day of Saturday) he had also added to the parcel a whole box of sweets and a few new items his brothers were selling in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. A letter too lay in and amongst the goodies and Rachel quickly took it out and read it with a big smile.

"Well at least we can't get in trouble with Snape now," Leshia said cheerfully, but Katie didn't share her mirth, as she was sure the blonde girl was more than capable of landing herself in trouble even with a new textbook.

XXX

Their first lesson of the day was Defence Against the Dark Arts and after joining their classmates outside the door Leshia fixed her sights on Damian Allseyer, sizing the boy up in order to work out his mood. Was he responsible for their situation in the bathrooms the other day or not? Ever since he had not crossed the girl's path, always managing to arrive at lessons later than her, and leaving before she had even been given the chance to rise from her seat. Leshia had never been more suspicious of anyone in her life.

"He's up to something," she whispered to her friends. "I mean look at that smug grin he's wearing."

"Leesh just drop it," Rachel warned. "That's just the way his face is. He was born smug."

"I'm not going to let him get away with it," Leshia was carrying on, barely having heeded her friend. For one terrifying moment it looked as though Leshia was about to march right over to the vile boy and give him a good talking too, but her tirade was pre-emptively hindered by the arrival of Julius Black. Walking past the girls, he came so close to Leshia that their arms grazed against one another, which proved enough of a distraction from Allseyer to head off her mood. Now all the girl's pent-up anger towards the Slytherins was focused solely on the attractive enigmatic young man.

"And that one," she added making sure that Julius could hear her. "He's equally as up to something, if not more so!"

"You're not even making sense any more," Katie chortled cheerfully, as up the corridor the long-loping strides signified the arrival of their teacher. As one the youngsters checked their shirts to see if they were tucked in and presentable, a routine that had become an automatic response to the impending arrival of Professor Malfoy. Predictably Draco was in a dangerously dichotic mood, as his eyes flashed warningly at the class and a small smile worked its way onto his handsome face.

"Good morning," he remarked causally as he pushed the door open with his foot. "In," was the mere command that followed, to which the class responded by filing past their teacher in the doorway. Everyone's eyes were instinctively drawn to the large object stood on top of Draco's desk. Covered by a sheet of red silk, the shape it concealed was strangely human-like and instantly the more imaginative members of the class began to get terribly excited. Leshia, being possibly the most imaginative of them all, had leaned so far forward on her desk that her nose was practically touching Ashley's hair, who was sat in front of the girl. Draco let the suspense draw out as he walked up to the front of the classroom and leaned back against the desk beside the strange shape.

"Red Caps," he told the class. "Last time we continued with our case study about the infestation of ninety-eight in Aberdeen. Can someone fill in those who were…otherwise detained…what entails a Red Cap and what happens when their numbers lurch out of control?" Several hands went into the air, while Rachel and Katie blushed under Draco's disapproving gaze. They were obviously 'those who were otherwise detained', and at this very moment they had never felt so bad for it. Even being locked in the bathrooms was less disconcerting than being the subject of that strange and calculating gaze. Leshia, well used to being stared at in such a manner by her father (after all, in trouble more often than not, she had encountered far worse), simply stared back at him with the smallest of cocky smiles on her pretty face.

"Mr Black?" All heads swivelled across the classroom to the enigma, except one, which stayed staring ahead forcefully.

"Red Caps are the genetic cousins of goblins. They're small, agile, dextrous and vicious. They love bloodshed, that's why they're called _Red_ Caps, and they tend to corner their victims in large numbers and beat them into oblivion. They're pretty nasty buggers really." Draco was nodding while Katie desperately started making notes so as not to miss out on a second's learning to make up for their missed lesson and Rachel felt slightly repulsed by the notion of being beaten into oblivion. Only Leshia amongst the three of them did not react to the boy's words, feeling angry at the mere sound of his voice, she simply refused to learn from him.

"And the situation in Aberdeen?" Draco prompted.

"Just over ten years ago they bred out of control in this town in Scotland called Aberdeen," Julius continued. "They didn't really pose a threat to the wizarding population because we can quite easily repel them, which they know, so they stay away, but the Muggles…well they suffered. The muggle police blamed the multitude of attacks on something they call a serial killer; ninety eight people died, including fifteen children." At this Leshia raised her eyes to the boy's face with a brow heavily furrowed; Julius Black had sounded remorseful, as though the thought of all that violence had wounded his very soul. Why on earth did he have to be so strange? "It was a disaster for the muggles until the ministry of magic stepped in with the largest operation of pest control in the history of the ministry."

"Five points for Slytherin," Draco said simply and he pushed himself off his desk and wandered over to the windows, glancing out over the grounds. "Thanks to the cull of ninety-eight the Red Cap population in Northern Britain has been all but wiped out. There was wide spread panic amongst even the wizarding community, of a spread of the creatures and so everybody turned into Red Cap slayers. I believe that for a while ministers at the ministry considered placing them on the endangered species lists."

"Why didn't they sir?" Katie asked worriedly; the girl now felt sorry for the cruel little creatures. Draco smiled at her charmingly.

"Well they've been swept up into the propaganda haven't they?" he said amusedly. "More scared than most are ministers. They'd be more than happy to have the species wiped out altogether."

"And what do you think Professor?" Rodeo asked with a keen look of interest on his face. Draco grinned darkly and paced back to his desk, taking hold of the edge of the cloth, easing it gradually away from the object it concealed. The cruel and twisted face of a Red Cap sprang out at the children as the cloth was pulled away to reveal the dead creature suspended in some sort of artificial animation. Katie had to look away in disgust, while across the room one of the Slytherin girls let out a disgusted cry.

"Ugh, it's disgusting," Damian Allseyer announced, and for once Leshia agreed with him, though she would be loathe to admit it.

"I tend to agree that they're more nuisance than they're worth," Draco told the class simply and he admired the creature for a moment. "I don't think I'd condone a total cull of the entire species, but equally so I would not invite one to dinner if you understand my meaning."

"Where did you get that one?" Leshia asked with her head cocked to one side in curiosity. Draco grinned dashingly at his daughter, before looking over the expressions all the other youngsters were wearing.

"This one was loitering the grounds, I came across it in the forest."

"What were you doing in the forest?" This time Leshia bit her lip after the words had escaped her mouth, as every face in the room turned to stare at her. For a moment the girl had forgotten where she was, and even though Draco realised her error, he still was not impressed. Instead of saying anything though he carried on to the class.

"I am sure that Hagrid would be most unhappy with me were he to find out I had killed it, my fellow teacher sees only the good in all creatures. Now if you remember last year, you carried out projects with Widglings, trying to ascertain whether those nasty little cretins had any good in them that could be teased out through proper upbringing, or whether they were just wicked to the core?" The class nodded with a shudder, remembering that difficult project very well. "Can anybody tell me what we decided? Yes, Miss Weasley?"

"We decided that even though most of us had normal Widglings, meaning they were rotten and couldn't be changed, Leesh and Julius Black got a freak Widgling that actually turned out quite…bearable." Draco smiled at the girl.

"If by that you mean that we found out these previously misunderstood creatures could be tamed, then yes, you are quite right," he said to the class. "The lesson we learnt from that exercise is that often creatures are misunderstood. However, in the case of the Red Caps, you would be foolish to assume they had any other qualities than pure evil. They are vicious aggressive creatures and should you hear Hagrid complain about my culling of this chap, then you must remember those ninety eight muggles that died." Leshia frowned at the bitterness in her father's tone, and it stayed with her throughout the whole lesson; which actually turned out to be very interesting as they were allowed to go up to the creature and study it.

At the end of the lesson they were less delighted with their teacher when he told them they had to write an eight-foot essay on Red Cap physiology, complete with sketches if they wished to get top marks.

"Miss Malfoy remain behind," Draco said loudly as the bell went. Leshia kicked at her table leg in frustration while her friends and the rest of their classmates filed out leaving her alone with her father. She waited impatiently while her father covered the creature once more with the red material, before he turned around and leaned once more against his desk, looking at his daughter with a frown. "So…" He trailed off, evidently expecting the girl to say something.

"I didn't mean it," Leshia finally offered. "You have to cut me some slack dad, I sometimes forget we're in your classroom."

"I don't see why I should have to answer to you anyway," Draco retorted, his frown intensifying.

"I'm not expecting you to," Leshia countered grumpily, wondering why her father was behaving so strictly. Normally he would never have taken what she said to heart. "Dad you're being weird, and if you make me stick around any longer I'll be late for mum's lesson." Draco looked his daughter in the eye calculatingly, before eventually he smiled and nodded.

"Go on then," he sighed. "You'd better be good." There was a hint of warning in his tone and Leshia thought for one moment that she wouldn't dare disobey him. As she ran down the corridor to catch up with her friends she pondered her father's recent behaviour, hoping there was some explanation for his recent madness. Why on earth would he be patrolling the forest for secretive reasons of his own?

Leshia caught up with Rachel and Katie as the door to the Ancient Runes Classroom swung open revealing a group of fourth years spilling out into the corridor. Their lesson had dragged on and now they were late for their various next lessons.

"Hey shorty," came a voice Leshia barely recognised, before she fixed her eyes on the familiar grinning face of Owen Gabriel, the new Gryffindor Keeper, who was emerging from her mother's classroom with his friends. Leshia grinned back at him, remarking to herself how similar he seemed to her dear friend Ryan Lofting.

"Hi Owen." The boy gave the girl one last dashing smile before he and his friends made a dash for their Potions lesson.

"He seemed to like you," Katie remarked lightly as the girls filed into the classroom behind Julius Black and some other youngsters in their class they did not know so well. Leshia rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't start on that," she chuckled. "He was just being friendly. It is possible for boys and girls to be friends without there being any ulterior motives you know." By now the girls had taken some seats towards the back of the class without realising and now they looked to the front of the class to see that Hermione was beaming at them. Leshia couldn't help it, she had to smile back.

"Welcome back everyone, I'm happy to see we're all here today," Hermione gushed once the children had taken their seats. "Sorry about the wait, the fourth years and I were far too involved in our discussion to notice the time." Leshia grinned even more thinking it was most certainly her mother who had lost track of the time, not the fourth years, who had probably been counting the seconds they were held longer than they had to. "Last time we talked about the many different ways wizards and witches had scribed their thoughts over the years. We talked about methods, materials and most importantly purpose. Today, we're going to go right back to the beginning in order to examine the very roots of runes. Does anybody know what the Stone of Atharath is?" For a moment the whole class remained silent, until eventually a hand stuck into the air. Hermione beamed at the knowledgeable student and Leshia felt a pang of jealousy.

"It's a very old monolith covered in primitive runes that was found in the Middle East, people believe it to be the oldest form of wizarding Runes in the world," Julius Black explained while Leshia bristled. Why hadn't she swotted up on this subject? How was her mother going to feel when Julius Black was answering all the questions and she couldn't even manage one?

"Five points to Slytherin," Hermione said brightly. These five added to the five Draco had granted the boy amounted to ten points Julius Black had won for his house from her parents while Leshia had only served to get in trouble. Feeling more than jealous she shifted a little in her seat.

"Wonderful," the girl whispered under her breathe causing Rachel, who was sat beside her, to snigger. Hermione glanced over at them sharply.

"Girls," she admonished. "It is not polite to make a noise while other pupils are talking. Five points from Gryffindor." Leshia shut her eyes tightly and had to resist making an exasperated sound. Leshia's mood didn't improve throughout the lesson, as Julius Black and even Katie dominated the group discussions. The only time Leshia had dared to answer a question, she had got it wrong, which had only intensified her sulk. As the bell went Leshia was the first out of the classroom, leaving Hermione feeling very concerned about Leshia's attitude towards her lesson. She had waited over a year for the chance to teach her daughter, and had pinned so much hope on it being the most enjoying teaching experience of all, that now she felt deflated with the anticlimax. All this time she had not heeded her husband when he told her that Leshia could be temperamental in class: on good days she could be a delight to teach seaming to be the most intelligent child in the class, however, on bad days she was a nightmare, and Draco had admitted to wanting to throw her out on her ear the moment she turned belligerent.

XXX

Things didn't improve for Leshia, who by the end of the day had racked up yet another detention with Snape for talking back in their Potions lesson after break. She would now not only have to endure the whole day with the awful teacher, but also the entire night for however long he saw fit. A thundercloud would not have looked out of place above her head as she stalked inside the castle after a rainy PE lesson in which she had lost her team the game of rounders they had been playing.

"I hear you were a delight today," the voice of her father came as she and her friends rushed inside out of the rain. The blonde girl nodded to her soaked friends to go ahead to their dormitory while she stayed behind fixing her cantankerous gaze on her father.

"I don't know what you mean," she said lightly, adopting an air of superiority. Draco grinned dashingly at the girl.

"I mean you've been in a foul mood all week," Draco remarked. "Your mother told me about the way you behaved in her lesson, and Severus has been chewing my ear off all afternoon about the things you said to him in _his_ lesson. So tell me Leshia, how would you describe your current demeanour?"

"Stop acting like you know everything when you don't!" Leshia groaned and she flung her hands up against her face, before leaning against the wall in a sulk. Draco remained silent for a moment while his face rearranged itself into a more concerned expression.

"If I asked you," he began comfortingly. "Would you tell me?" For a moment Leshia's chest rose and fell quickly as she fought the tears back. Where on earth were all these emotions coming from? What on earth was the matter with her? Eventually she pulled her hands away from her face and looked at her father with concern in her face.

"Maybe." Draco sighed heavily and walked over to his child wrapping his arms around her firmly. "I don't know what's wrong. I've never felt this way before, it's as if everything is getting on top of me and I just can't stop. I don't mean to be horrid, honest!" Draco chuckled, and for a moment Leshia felt indescribably comforted as the deep laughter reverberated round her own chest. For some reason it brought back to her the feelings of security her youth had offered. She could not remember the game she had played with her father when she was a very tiny girl, when she would lie on his chest and make him speak so as to feel the deep sounds rumble through her own tiny body. Draco had loved the way that game could make her giggle for hours.

"You're not being horrid," Draco consoled her and kissed the top of her head. "You just have to learn to control your temper little one."

"Don't call me that," Leshia complained weakly, but a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. Draco laughed once more.

"Look I understand that you've grown a few inches shorty, but there's no need to get ahead of yourself is there? You're still a titch, and likely to remain one if you're anything like your mother." Leshia felt her temper rising again and she pulled back from her father with a deep frown. Draco recognised the warning signs. "Calm down," he told her slowly, with a hint of warning. This however, only served to fuel Leshia's anger and she stepped backwards.

"I am not small," she said slowly and angrily. "And I will _not_ calm down."

"Don't start…" Draco began, but Leshia stormed past him and ran down the corridor ignoring her father's calls behind her. She ran all the way up to the seventh floor where she started pacing the corridor leading to Gryffindor Tower edgily.

"For goodness sake," she grumbled as she spun around on heel and stalked back up the corridor, fully intending on returning to her father and apologising for her behaviour, but then she felt better of it and spun around. "I just really wish I could relax. I wish I could find what I need." Angry with herself for losing control Leshia headed for Gryffindor tower once more, but then she stopped still in the middle of the corridor and stared at a small and insignificant door she had never noticed in her whole two years of pacing this corridor. Feeling drawn towards the door she pushed it open to find it was unlocked. For once this normally bustling corridor was empty and after peering around herself to see if anyone was watching and finding no one, the girl stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

The room she found herself in was impossibly large, with high vaulted ceilings and grand windows showing the dark and ominous rain clouds outside. Surely this room was far too large to fit beside the disused classroom where many of the older Gryffindors went to better get to know one another, and the staircase that lay on its other side. Where did those windows come out, and how on earth had Leshia managed to avoid coming across this room before? Feeling as though she really ought not be here Leshia turned to back away, but then her eyes became drawn to the object in the centre of the otherwise large and empty room. Black but for a hint of gold gilding around the edges, and incredibly large and foreboding, Leshia felt she recognised the cabinet that stood there in a shaft of sunlight creeping in from the otherwise stormy skies.

The girl approached the cabinet slowly, her wet shoes squeaking on the shiny polished tiles of the mysterious empty room. Whatever had led her to this room and to this cabinet had had a purpose she felt, and so surely she owed it to herself to find out why? Once she had reached the grand cabinet she paced around it, reaching out her fingers to touch the smooth wood. Several times she paced round the outside of the cabinet, her fingers trailing round it as she ascertained its purpose and why on earth it was here in this large empty room. After her tenth time round the youngster realised there was a limit to the amount of information she could glean from walking round the outside of the cabinet and so she stopped in front of it and placed her hands on the worn handles. A shiver of energy rippled down her spine and for a moment everything felt as though she had been guided here for all the right reasons: this was her purpose.

After a inhaling slowly Leshia wrenched the cabinet doors open expecting to find something momentous inside…no, scrap that, she had expected to find at least _something_ inside and not the emptiness that lay there.

"What?" the girl exclaimed sounding confused and she peered into the gloom of the wardrobe. Why on earth was it empty? Feeling incredibly downhearted, Leshia turned to go, but at the very last minute she decided to place one foot inside the cabinet. Her one foot was soon followed by the other and after a few moments she found herself to be entirely within the cupboard and shutting the doors firmly behind herself. Absolutely nothing happened.

"Oh this is ridiculous, Leshia what are you doing?" the girl sighed, getting angry at herself for being strange. Feeling put out to say the least she leant back into the doors in order to climb out of the cupboard and make her way back to the common room for a well-deserved bath, but it would seem this bath was going to have to wait. "Oh my…" The girl whispered in shock as she looked out the doors of the cabinet onto a vaguely familiar study. Where she had seen this room before she could not say, but it was the fact that she was in an entirely different location to the one she had stepped in from that had the girl so entirely shocked and confused. She was no longer at Hogwarts (and judging by the glorious sunshine shining in through the window Leshia could guess she was nowhere near the castle either)! With a shaking hand she stepped down from the cabinet and looked around, trying her hardest to work out where she had seen this place before.

"Ginny, the Daltons have invited us round for drinks this evening, Archie's just flooed round to tell me," the voice of Katie's father sounded from beyond the study door. In an instant everything clicked into place and Leshia remembered where she had seen this room before: it was Harry Potter's study. In a flash she darted back into the cabinet (barely registering that it was the same one that Draco had shrunk in order to transfer it from her house to Katie's) and shut the doors firmly behind herself, counting to ten with her eyes squeezed shut until her head started to swim with dizziness.

Five minutes passed, in which Leshia's mind went into overdrive. She had found the magical transporting cabinet on the Hogwarts end, and this meant she had found the secret passage linking Katie's house to their school home, but what could she do with this information? Obviously she was going to have to talk this over with her friends, but for now, she just had to hope that when she opened the doors she would find herself safely at Hogwarts once more. A cabinet that transported someone purely to Harry Potter's study and not back again was after all, not much use to Leshia. Eventually, when she had built up the courage Leshia pushed back into the door and peered out briefly, hoping to find the large empty room she had found the cabinet in.

"Yes!" she cheered loudly when she saw that indeed she was where she had wanted to be. She spared no time in darting from the cupboard and then out into the corridor. The Fat Lady in the portrait seemed most shocked as Leshia barked the password at her allowing her entrance into Gryffindor Tower.

"Leesh, we need to talk about practice on Saturday, I hear you've got yourself a detention," the voice of Mila, the Gryffindor captain, came as Leshia walked in the door.

"Sorry, no time!" Leshia exclaimed before she sprinted up to her dormitory, bursting in to find Katie and Rachel had changed from their wet PE clothes and into warmer and dryer outfits.

"Where's the fire?" Rachel asked amusedly as Leshia burst in with a huge grin on her face.

"You will never guess where I've just been," the blonde girl gushed excitedly as she ran over to her friends and dropped down in the window box between their beds.

"Um Leesh? Calm down," Katie said gently.

"No I will not calm down something amazing has just happened!" Leshia complained with a huge grin on her deliriously happy face.

"Your dad's decided that we don't have to do that killer long essay for Monday?" Rachel suggested meekly, eliciting a shake of the head from the excited girl. "I don't know, your mum's decided that we don't have to do her ridiculously difficult subject and we're all going to get Os anyway?" Again a shake of the head.

"Oh come on Leshia, spit it out, we want to go to the library and research the Order," Katie complained.

"Okay okay," Leshia quickly conceded and after making sure that Ashley and Nicola were nowhere to be seen she looked from one friend to the other with a large smile. "Your parents are going for drinks at the Daltons tonight." Rachel wrinkled her nose in confusion while Katie stared simply at the blonde girl wondering if she was a little funny in the head.

"Excuse me?" she finally asked tiredly.

"I think what Katie means is, what the heck are you talking about?" Rachel added with a cocky smile.

"Charlie Dalton just flooed to your house and invited your parents round for drinks," Leshia explained calmly.

"Well how would you know that?"

"Because, I've just been to your dad's study and back."

"She's lost it," Rachel finally said once the girl's had lulled into silence. "You've totally and utterly lost it mate you know that right?"

"Oh my God," Katie suddenly gasped and Leshia grinned at her, seeing that the quick-thinking clever girl had figured it all out. "The cabinet, you found the one on this end?"

"Yes!" Leshia exploded excitedly.

"Hang on, hang on," Rachel interrupted when the other two started dancing round the common room in a hyperactive victory dance. "What cabinet? What the heck are you talking about?"

"Oh God Rachel you've got the memory capacity of a goldfish!" Katie complained happily. "Don't you remember the cabinet that Draco brought round my house last week? The one that transported my dad to Hogwarts?"

"The one we got in trouble for because we were spying," Leshia cut in with a severe look, amazed that Rachel couldn't remember.

"Oh yeah, but…" The girl trailed off and then slowly it dawned on her what Leshia had found. "Oh my God!" Once more the victory dance resumed as the girls revelled in this new amazing information, after which they dropped down on Katie's bed and Leshia told them everything about her discovery of the cabinet and the strange room wherein it lay. On command Leshia led her friends there instantly, but upon rounding the corner onto the corridor where she had found the new strange door, she found the wall to be empty where it had once lay.

"I don't understand," Leshia explained in confusion. "I swear this is where it was." Her friends seemed highly dubious of the girl to the point that Leshia got angry with them. "Oh I am not making this up. Write to your parents Katie and ask them, ask them if they're going to the Daltons for drinks tonight!" With this Leshia turned on heel and stormed off to have the bath she had so been craving, leaving Katie and Rachel feeling the very solid wall opposite the tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls how to dance the ballet.

XXX

Leshia's foul mood lasted the entire evening and into the next day, when it can only be said to have got much worse. Snape revelled in the fact that the girl was in a disgusting mood and actively tried to worsen her spirit by asking her to do all manner of despicable tasks. That night when Leshia finally got to bed at one in the morning her eyes had never seemed so dark, nor her brow so furrowed.

Come Sunday morning everything was about to change with the arrival of a letter, brought to the table by a snowy white owl that went by the name of Hedwig.

"They replied quickly," Rachel remarked as Katie opened the parcel from her parents. For a moment her eyes paused on the page until she looked up at Leshia in amazement.

"You were right Leesh, they did you for drinks at the Daltons…how did…"

"I told you," Leshia said triumphantly and a small smiled pulled at her face. "That room is real and inside is the cabinet." Katie and Rachel's faces morphed into apologetic expressions that Leshia shrugged off. "After quidditch practice we're going to have to sit down and figure out what made that door appear when it did and how we can get it to do the same again."

The rain that had so battered the girls during their PE lesson that Friday, had not ceased over the weekend. In fact, it would not be a lie to say that the weather had in fact worsened and now one would have to be very foolish to step outside into it. The Gryffindor team had not got to the top without being foolish however, and their delayed practice was going ahead full throttle, in spite of the weather.

"This is madness!" Leshia called over the rain to her nearest team mate during one of their short breaks, a team mate she believed to be Tom Weasley.

"I completely agree!" the voice of Owen Gabriel replied. Feeling a little embarrassed that she was whining to the soon-to-be professional quidditch player Leshia forced away her complaints and flew a little closer to the young man. "I don't see how we're meant to see the end of our broom sticks let alone a ball in this weather. Don't see how you manage it Malfoy."

"What do you mean?" Leshia asked and by now she had reached the tall boy's side; she had to admit, he looked entirely at home on his broom, as though he had been born riding one. Seeing him on the ground one might believe him to look out of place on a thin broom, but boy they would be wrong. Owen Gabriel had never looked so good as he did sat atop his vintage revamped Firebolt.

"Well it's the snitch isn't it? Size of a walnut they are," the young man remarked cheerfully and he regarded the young girl at his side with a grin. "You don't do things by half do you?" Leshia frowned.

"What do you mean?" For a moment the girl could have sworn Owen looked at her in admiration, but after admonishing herself for her own big-headedness the moment was gone, and she merely saw the grinning face of Owen Gabriel for what it was, an innocent friendly smile.

"Ah nothing," Owen said with a shrug. "Oh look, Mila wants us to jump through some more hoops." Leshia sniggered with laughter and grinned at the keeper.

"See you on the ground," she said cheerfully, before darting across the pitch to where the captain had been hailing her over. After a training session that would have tested even the athletes of Team England, Mila let her team trudge inside soaking wet and starving. They had trained right through lunch and now the afternoon was wearing thin and dinner was soon to be served up. Leshia walked alongside the tall keeper joking with him over Ryan Lofting. Loyal to her once captain Leshia defended him from the playful remarks Owen Gabriel was making over the once Gryffindor heartthrob.

"Oh come on Malfoy," Owen laughed. "Lofting had a new girl going each week before that Julie girl tamed his heart."

"No he didn't," Leshia complained with a smile. "He was just…friendly that's all." Owen sniggered and shrugged his shoulders.

"Seriously though, out of anyone in this school, Ryan Lofting was the one I always wanted to be," the young man said softly, as though he were a little ashamed to admit it. Leshia grinned up at him in amazement.

"Ryan? You wanted to be Ryan? But you just said he was a womanising pretty-boy," she laughed. Owen grinned and shrugged.

"Don't we all want to be womanising pretty boys?" Leshia wrinkled her brow and was about to answer back that no, she had no desire to be a womanising pretty boy, when suddenly she fell into shadow. Without having to turn around she knew who stood behind her.

"Afternoon Professor Malfoy," Owen remarked cheerfully to the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, who alone out of all he had encountered this weekend, was tall enough to meet his eye line. Leshia felt like a child stood between the two tall men either side of her, and so she darted back, looking up at her father to see he was watching Owen Gabriel with an icy gaze.

"Hi dad," she said simply, as though reminding him of her presence and warning him to behave.

"I'll see you back at the common room," Owen told his smaller friend. "Well played today Malfoy." With this he slung his broom over his shoulder and waltzed off with the air and confidence that only a protégé of Ryan Lofting could carry off. Evidently Owen had been watching the young man for a long time to have so expertly mastered his mannerisms. Draco watched him go with narrowed eyes.

"Dad, don't," Leshia warned playfully. It was only for the fact that her mood sounded so improved upon since the last time that he saw his daughter, that Draco let the matter of that young man that was far too old for his daughter, drop. Granted, Owen Gabriel was only in fourth year (though he had already celebrated his fifteenth birthday within the first few days of the term) and therefore barely a year older than his little girl, and yes, he could see that their friendship was platonic and that the young man so far posed no threat to her innocence, but still, he didn't have to like it.

"You're mother wants you to come round for dinner this evening," Draco finally said as he turned to look his daughter in the eye. Leshia grinned and nodded.

"I'll be there." For a moment Draco beamed at her and nodded.

"Glad to hear it…I must say, I'm happy to hear you've cheered up since the last time we spoke."

"Yeah, I know. I'm really sorry about that. What can I say, hormones," Leshia said with a shrug, which turned into an involuntary shudder of cold. Her clothes were still drenched from the cruel rains that had accompanied their training session.

"Go on, go and change into something warm and dry. You're going to catch your death if you're not careful," Draco told the girl and he ruffled her soaking hair before disappearing down the corridor once more. Leshia rushed back to the dormitory and did just that, pulling on her cosiest and warmest clothes, before she ran down to the common room and curled up in the window box Rachel and Katie had been domineering with an exploding snap game.

"Mila push you hard did she?" Rachel remarked cheerfully as Leshia dropped down between the two friends, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"You have no idea, I swear she was a warden of Azkaban in a past life." Their conversation soon devolved into a discussion of Leshia's exact movements before she discovered the door they had not been able to encounter since. While Leshia was in practice Katie and Rachel had seemingly tried everything in order to make it appear.  
"Maybe you just have to walk past it a few times," Leshia suggested. "I _was_ pacing the corridor because I was in a mood."

"Nah, we tried that didn't we Katie?" Rachel countered.

"Well maybe you just have to be in a really bad mood," Katie suggested.

"Hey, I never said I was in a _really_ bad mood, it was just a regular bad mood," Leshia countered defensively, though she was grinning at the raven-haired girl.

"Maybe you're the only one that can make it appear," Katie suggested and so the girls continued to speculate about the mysterious room and how they could make it appear. After an hour's speculation, and then a further hour's experimenting the girls had got incredibly bored of the magical disappearing room. It was now time for dinner and Leshia parted with her friends in order to join her parents in their chambers. Hermione had pulled out all the stops and her Sunday roast dinner was absolutely delicious. The family dynamic was entirely back to normal and Leshia regaled her parents with stories about her first days back.

"The other day, I found this room," Leshia suddenly said once the room had fallen into a comfortable silence. While using her fork to move an unwanted roast potato round her plate the girl felt a little awkward about asking her parents – after all, she didn't want them to know she had found the cabinet, and Draco was evidently aware of the room containing it as he had owned the matching Cabinet.

"Oh yeah, what sort of room?" Draco asked amusedly.

"Just this big room where I'm sure there didn't used to be one, and now we can't find it anymore," Leshia explained.

"Where was it?" Hermione inquired.

"Just round the corner from the Fat Lady." Leshia was aware of the look that passed between her parents and she decided to proceed with immense caution. She knew they could give her answers, but if she was too persistent then she would blow the whole thing and they might move the cabinet.

"What did this room look like?" Draco asked feigning innocent curiosity, concealing a steely determination to find out exactly what Leshia knew.

"Well, it was really big, with a huge vaulted ceiling and big windows. I didn't think it looked right, because it wouldn't have been able to fit in that tiny space between the stairs and the old classroom."

"And was there anything in it?" Draco persisted. Though at the time she hadn't known why she said it, afterwards Leshia thanked her lucky stars for the answer she gave in return to her father's insistent question,

"Just like, loads towels and stuff," she said with a shrug. It was instantly apparent that this was the answer her parents had been looking for and they both visibly relaxed.

"Were you thinking about being wet and cold as you walked past the door?" Hermione asked with a smile and Leshia nodded, her well-honed mind analysing what her mother had said: thoughts. It all depended on what you were thinking. So what had she been thinking as she walked past the door?

"It's just a laundry room the elves sometimes use," Draco told his daughter, giving Hermione a hard look as if warning her not to say any more. Leshia frowned at her father.

"A laundry room? That disappears?"

"Well there's no point in it always being around is there? The Elves can make it appear when they need it, you probably caught one in there when you found it." Leshia knew he was lying, and in a way Draco knew that the girl knew he was lying, but nothing could drag the truth about the Room of Requirement out of him. That room held the key to most shameful thing he had ever done and did not want his daughter opening the door onto all his past misdoings. He couldn't lose her.

"Okay," Leshia said simply, holding her father's gaze a little longer than normal, as if conveying to him that she would not look into the room if it upset him that much; a total lie of course, but after all, she was a Malfoy.

XXX

As soon as she stepped foot inside the dormitory to find Katie and Rachel working on their Defence Against the Dark Arts essays on their beds Leshia announced the secret to the mystery of the disappearing door. The girls were incredibly excited by her revelation and for the next ten minutes Leshia rubbed her temples as she tried to relive her furious pacing of the corridor. What had she been thinking?

"I remember!" she suddenly exclaimed triumphantly. "I was desperately trying to relax, and was wishing for something that would make me relax. Maybe that's why it appeared? Something about that cabinet is going to help me relax and get rid of all these stupid emotions that are whirring round my brain."

"Well what? Why will a transporting cabinet help?"

"More specifically, why will a cabinet that transports you to _my _house make your relax?" Katie reiterated. Leshia shrugged her shoulders and let her gaze drop onto Katie's nightstand, where a moving Wizard picture of the three girls when they were nine playing in the lake on the grounds at Potter Manor. They seemed to be having the most delightful fun in the most glorious of settings and instantly Leshia's brilliant idea came flooding back to her.

"We have to throw this year's Halloween party at your house!"

"What?" both cousins suddenly exclaimed: Rachel with glee and Katie in horror.

"Think about it, how the heck were we going to top last year's bash? It was fan-bloody-tastic, but if we could get everyone off the grounds, then maybe people wouldn't mind there not being any celebrities around."

"No Leshia, absolutely not," Katie said firmly as Rachel shuffled round to join Leshia's side and match her pleading expression.

"Where's the harm in it? We wouldn't be in the house, we'd just be down the end of the grounds. That lake is nowhere near your house."

"Yes, but I think my parents might notice hundreds of Hogwarts pupils traipsing through my dad's study in order to get out into the garden."

"Well we could move the cabinet," Rachel suggested.

"No," Katie insisted icily.

"Or we could make sure that they're not in?" Leshia suggested.

"Oh yeah, and how are we going to do that?" Katie demanded.

"I don't know, my parents could invite them to Hogwarts for dinner or something…" Leshia trailed off as the pieces of her brilliant plan slotted together. "_Yes_! That is exactly what we would do. I could put the idea in my parents' heads and they could have their own little party here with Rachel's dad and maybe some of your uncles and Grandma Weasley and your grandfather. That would be amazing, because then they'd certainly be distracted and we could keep popping back to make sure they were all still having a good time."

"Yeah! And when they started to leave we could stall them to make sure one of us had enough time to get everyone back through the cabinet." Katie remained in silence while Rachel and Leshia veritably bounced up and down on her bed in excitement. The pair of them were spinning out of control and if Katie was going to put a stop to this nonsense before they got out of control she was going to have to say something soon, but somehow, her tongue didn't want to start moving and she merely sat there and listened until eventually she merely nodded.

"If this room generates whatever you want, then surely it could generate the party supplies for us and we could bring them through the cabinet?" she suggested when Leshia and Rachel started planning the supplies and where they would find them. Both girls stopped jabbering and looked at their raven-haired friend with huge smiles.

"Yes!" they finally cheered and fell on the girl in a hug.

"Thank you Katie, you will _not _regret this!"

XXX

Over the following days the girls never got the chance to truly try out their theory on how to get the magical door opposite the tapestry to appear, it was the following Friday that they got the opportunity of an empty corridor. Leshia was the one selected to start pacing and wishing for the cupboard to appear and amazingly, it worked on the first try and the door appeared. The girls spared no time and darted inside, finding themselves inside the large room containing the cupboard, and now, containing many other fun looking items.

"Amazing," Katie gasped as she approached the cupboard. "So this will _really_ take me to my dad's study?"

"Get in and try it," Leshia said with a grin while she peered through the items scattered around the room.

"What if my dad's in there?"

"Well just push the door open a little, he'll never notice," Leshia encouraged. Feeling a sudden rush of courage Katie stepped inside the cupboard and did as Leshia instructed, shutting the doors behind herself and waiting a few moments. When she was sure she had waited long enough she forced away the tremors running through her body and pushed the door open a fractional amount.

Harry Potter was sat in the armchair by the hearth speaking with someone's face in the fire Katie knew to be an old friend of her parents, a woman that went by the name of Tonks. The girls had always feared this woman for her metamorphosing capabilities, though they had been forced to get used to her due to her being married to their favoured 'uncle' Remus. Seemingly quite sensible with brown hair in a spiky cut and a reasonable sized nose, Tonks was looking pretty, though incredibly frazzled; her sons Henry and Horatio, aged nine and ten respectively, were driving her up the wall with their endless battling.

"Honestly Harry, I don't know what to do with them," Tonks groaned tiredly. "Horatio keeps metamorphosing into something frightening to terrify Henry, and their squabbling is driving me up the wall. Why couldn't they both have been born Metamorphmagi, then they could have terrorised one another and the little one wouldn't keep having to run to me for cover."

"Or neither," Harry suggested cheerfully.

"Too right mate, are you sure you don't want them? Just for the day?" Harry chuckled genially.

"Tonks I know I'm missing my kids, but even I wouldn't take on your two. They'd tear the house down." Katie felt a pang of emotion for her father as she heard him admitting to missing 'his kids'; not merely Michael, but 'his kids', which definitely included her as well.

"Well look, the reason I'm dropping by is to tell you I won't be able to make it to the meeting this evening. Remus will be round as usual, but the babysitter has cancelled again and it's my turn to stay and supervise the two Furies and make sure they don't kill each other."

"Okay Tonks," Harry laughed. "Well I'm sure Remus will keep you informed. I don't think there's too much to discuss. We don't have nay new information on Lucius' whereabouts, and even when we do get some new information Draco refuses to discuss it."

"What does Hermione see in that man," Tonks sighed heavily, with only a hint of amusement. Harry grinned wryly.

"Tonks," he warned. "You have to let it drop. Draco's on our side now, and he has been for a long time."

"There's still something about him that I don't trust. Why didn't he tell the Order that Lucius was still at large? He only spilled the beans when Leshia came under threat." Harry remained silent; he had no answers for these kinds of questions.

"The important thing is that he did tell us eventually, he's the one that called us all together again in the first place, and it's a good thing he did. The dark following is on the rise again Tonks, it's our duty to fight it off before he has a chance to rise again. Finding Lucius is of utmost…"

"Don't talk about it here Harry, you never know who might be listening," Tonks warned the bespectacled young man, who instantly fell silent, and as if on cue Harry looked around himself for anyone that may be listening in. Katie felt her heart stop as his eyes drifted over her position in the wardrobe, but he did not notice the door standing minutely ajar and returned his gaze to Tonks in the fireplace. Not needing to hear any more Katie pulled the door shut as gently and silently as she could before she rested her head against the back of he cabinet. There was too much to take in.

Finally she dared to push the door open again and she did so onto the bickering fight Rachel and Leshia were having inches away from the cabinet.

"_There_ you are!" Rachel exclaimed, while Leshia donned an intensely relieved expression. "Leshia was about to burst in on you, but I was sure you'd probably get evaporated into smithereens if she tried to get in while you were in there." Leshia rolled her eyes and play-glared at the redhead before she noticed the look on Katie's face.

"Oh God, you didn't get caught did you?"

"No," Katie assured them and she stepped down from the cabinet. "My dad was in there though. He was talking to Tonks in the hearth."

"Ugh, not that woman," Leshia grumbled, feeling a prickle of anger towards the Metamorphmagus. She had never liked Tonks due to the prickly nature she assumed whenever her father was within the vicinity.

"She and my dad were talking, about the Order of the Phoenix," Katie explained with a shaky voice. Leshia and Rachel fell completely silent and watched her with wide eyes. "I know what they are, they're a secret group who fight the dark gathering of Voldemort. They said…they said that it's on the rise again, and that they have no idea where your grandfather is." Katie missed out the part about Tonks' distrust for Draco.

"They're a secret club?" Leshia asked with a frown. "Who fight Voldemort?" Katie nodded while Leshia's shoulders drooped. "Is that all?"

"What do you mean 'all'?" Rachel sniggered. "I think that's pretty gutsy."

"Yeah but…surely everyone back then was fighting Voldemort, and were he to rise again, wouldn't we all fight him this time?" Leshia said simply, feeling disappointed by the nature of the secret club her parents were part of.

"Well I think it's pretty cool," Rachel said cheerfully. "Imagine if we were part of a secret club, fighting…I don't know, Allseyer?" Rachel and Katie sniggered with laughter while Leshia's mind clicked onto an idea.

"That's not al that bad an idea," she finally mused aloud. "I mean think about it. All that weird stuff that happened last week with everyone being followed and sinister feelings of doom following us all about the place. Maybe we should form our own group, for the protection of Hogwarts and its pupils from the Slytherin scum and all who side with them?"

"Leesh! That's a brilliant idea!" Rachel gushed happily. "I bet you loads of people would join and…"

"But that's not the point," Katie interrupted with a small smile. "Is it Leshia?" Leshia nodded and grinned at the tall girl, who had read her mind like a book. "It's about an elite few who keep the masses safe without them knowing…just like our parents and the Order of the Phoenix." The girls trailed into silence while they each pondered the possibilities. As one they all broke into chatter about who they would invite and how they would meet, and arrange their meetings. The children were aware of the club their parents had founded during school, the so called 'Dumbledore's Army', and instantly they started pilfering ideas about secret contracts and coins that changed colour when their meetings were to be held. Leshia was defiant in copying their ideas, claiming they had to make up their own, Rachel and Katie were inclined to disagree and so the girls sat for several hours throwing their ideas around until their stomachs started to rumble and they realised dinner had started long ago.

"But wait a minute," Rachel told the others as they headed for the door. "What are we going to call ourselves?" The girls once more plunged into silence while they looked around themselves for inspiration. Leshia's eyes fell on the Hogwarts crest on Rachel's jumper, and she observed the Gryffindor Lion seemingly wrestling with the snake of Slytherin, beneath which the blue Eagle of Ravenclaw seemed to join the battle. Before, when they had been discussing members, their Ravenclaw friends' names had been prominent in a mainly Gryffindor cast and so the name that suddenly conjured up in Leshia's head seemed apt, almost like an amalgamation of the two strong houses.

"The Blue Lions," the girl announced. There was no argument, and so although the afternoon had been spent arguing the finer details of their new secret club for the protection of Hogwarts, the name that their club was to adopt was decided in a matter of seconds. The Blue Lions had crept into existence.

XXX

Draco stared grimly at the door that his wife had just slammed behind herself, before she had promptly started regurgitating her dinner in the toilet. She had been fine all day and the pair had been enjoying an intimate conversation in front of the fireplace in the living room of their family quarters, when suddenly she felt the sickness rise in her throat and she had raced from the room with a certain sense of urgency. The young man waited patiently, until eventually a rather green-faced Hermione reappeared.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked sounding concerned, eliciting a shrug from his wife before she dropped down on the bed at his side, leaning her forehead on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing serious," she sighed.

"You should go and see Poppy, she'll fix you." Hermione laughed warmly.

"There's nothing wrong darling, it's probably just a tummy bug, half my fifth year class was off this afternoon with something, maybe I've caught that."

"But Poppy can cure tummy bugs," Draco countered with a wry smile, knowing his wife was too stubborn to seek out help.

"Darling _I_ can fix tummy bugs, I'll just have an early night," the young woman said firmly as she shuffled up the bed and pulled the quilt over herself. "I'm sorry I won't be able to come with you to the meeting. You'd better get going or you'll be late."

"I'm not going without you," Draco said firmly, eliciting laughter from his wife. She knew he wasn't trying to be gallant, that he wasn't offering to stay behind for her sake. She knew it was because he didn't want to go to a meeting with those people, their friends, without her because they would gang up on in, which she was ashamed to say, they often did.

"You have to go," Hermione said with a sweet smile. "One of us has to be there."

"But…" Draco began pleadingly, cutting himself off when he saw the firm smile on Hermione's stubborn face; he was not going to win this one. Sure enough, ten minutes later he was throwing a handful of floo powder into the fire and reluctantly calling out the name of the meeting place of the Order of the Phoenix,

"Twelve Grimmauld Place." In a whir of green fire he was gone reappearing moments later in the kitchen of the refurbished house. Since the days of the second rise of Voldemort in the nineties, and ownership of the Black family residence had fallen to Harry, he had ensured that it be refurbished to it's former glory, with fewer dark undertones of course. Nobody lived there still, but it still served the purpose of 'safe house' and the most well guarded location for secret meetings.

As usual, there was a hive of activity in the kitchen where innumerable redheads separated the many peculiar faces and fascinating members of the Order of the Phoenix. It was the best turnout since that very first meeting Draco had called to announce that one Death Eater still remained and there was a chance that Voldemort's second return was going to be sooner rather than later. They had always known that he would return, that the hidden and unknown eighth Horcrux would be responsible for unleashing the monstrous being that was Voldemort back on the world, but they had not truly expected it to be in their lifetimes. With no Death Eaters to aid him, the threat of Voldemort's return seemed a distant one, but Lucius' survival had thrown a spanner into the works and now it was of utmost importance to find him.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, Draco received very little attention and he was glad for it, managing to slink away to a quiet corner where he could watch the other members without receiving any unwanted attention in return. From the relatively quiet corner of the kitchen beside the pantry he watched in amazement as everybody chattered and caught up. How could these people make so much noise? And why weren't they getting on with it so that he could return to his poor sick wife?

"Alright there Malfoy?" The blonde man turned to see Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter had located him, and he managed a nod of recognition to them.

"Hermione not with you?" Harry asked with a frown of concern.

"No, she's feeling under the weather," Draco explained.

"Nothing serious I hope?" the dark-haired man enquired.

"Well you know what Hermione's like, even if it were, she'd insist it's nothing and suffer it out," Draco sighed and for the umpteenth time since his turning to the 'good' side as it were, Harry marvelled at the change in the young man. The genuine concern for his wife was clear as day on his handsome face; complete love and concern for another human being was not something Harry felt him capable of, and now Draco Malfoy would readily sacrifice himself for two people, his wife and his daughter. The change in him was remarkable.

"And how have the girls been?" Ron asked, wanting to see how his daughter was fairing, she had seemed so unlike herself this summer with the situation between himself and Lavender; it had hurt him greatly. Draco gave the men a wry look and rolled his eyes.

"Troublesome," he sighed.

"Nothing's changed then," Harry chuckled.

"You may laugh, but you're not the one that has to deal with their shenanigans on a daily basis," Draco complained only half-seriously. "I swear they're worse then you lot were. They're always on some damn crusade or other. Why can't they just leave it be?"

"Why, what are they after now?"

"I don't know, but Leshia found the Room of Requirement the other day."

"Did she find the…"

"No," Draco said quickly with a brusque shake of his head. "She was wet and cold, so it provided lots and lots of towels." Harry and Ron chuckled.

"Sounds about right," the red-haired man said with a grin. "I do miss Hogwarts."

"But if she found the room, then she might find the cabinet," Harry mused aloud. Draco looked to him with eyes narrowed in thought, before he nodded. "Maybe you should move it?"

"To where?" Draco sighed. "That room is the safest place in the whole school. A mere fraction of the student body know of its existence and even then you'd have to be requiring something that the cabinet could help with, and even then, what pupil would climb in the cabinet to see what it did?" Harry and Ron exchanged a look.

"Our daughters," they finally replied in unison.

"They won't find it." With this the conversation was over, and in time for Albus Dumbledore to call silence over the room and for everybody to take a seat, or a place along the wall. The three men stayed where they were and were soon joined by Ginny, who took her place beside Harry granting him a beaming smile as she did so.

Predictably, the meeting started out with any accounts of unusual activity pertaining to Voldemort of his Dark Following. A lot of dark activity had apparently been observed (hence the large turnout) and for the first two hours people heard about the glaringly obvious fact that the dark following of Voldemort was picking up speed again. No one in the room doubted it was due to Lucius Malfoy, after all at their annual meeting the year before, there had been barely anything to report, and now, everybody had a few things to say. By the end of the show-and-tell-like discussion, all eyes were fixed on Draco, who alone had not said a word, and nobody seemed impressed.

"Have you heard any news at all Draco?" Dumbledore enquired almost hopefully; he knew of Draco's nature and had long forgiven him for keeping everything close to his chest. Whenever Draco shared, it was always unexpected and almost always unpleasant; so in truth the ageing Headmaster had no idea whether Draco had new information to give or not. After a while Draco shook his head slowly.

"No, I haven't heard anything, none of my contacts have seen him," he said icily, feeling bemused by the amount of attention aimed at him.

"Nothing at all?" Molly Weasley asked in disbelief, her expression one of dislike; she had never been able to warm up to Draco Malfoy.

"No Molly, nothing at all." An unpleasant silence filled the room, which was only broken when Bill Weasley shook his head in the corner, muttering something under his breathe. Draco, well used to the group's mistrust of him, held his tongue, though he could feel his temper rising and desperately wished that Hermione were by his side. Bill's utterance however, seemed to spur the rest on.

"How can you not know anything? You're his son, surely you know where he'd go?" Molly demanded.

"I do not know where he is," Draco said slowly and deliberately.

"You must know something," Elphias Doge, an ageing member of the Order who had not been present at the last six meetings, but had encountered a rather unpleasant group of Goblins claiming to be the Dark Lord's servants and therefore felt he had to let everyone know what had happened.

"Why should we believe him?" Hestia Jones, another member of the Order who had risen in status since the last rise of Voldemort due to her single-handed defeat of three Death Eaters since his demise. "He lied to us before. You told us you'd killed Lucius the night of the Great Battle Malfoy, and instead you just transported him to the Andes."

"Oh why do we always have to come back to this?" Ron groaned. "Just leave him alone, he had his reasons."

"Yeah, it's not like the rest of you have never done something you later regret," Harry added and the two men stood beside Draco shoulder to shoulder, looking at everyone in a manner that simply dared them to continue this discussion.

"Yes," Molly said simply. "When I have a second helping of cake after tea I later regret it, but aside from my thighs, that isn't hurting anyone is it? What he did is unacceptable, and I don't see why he's still in the order." _Snap._

"I've had enough of this," Draco said darkly and he pushed himself off from the counter he had been leaning against and made his way for the door.

"Draco, please do not leave," Albus tried to call after him, but the young man was gone, leaving the Order annoyed and also a little scared.

XXX

"Leshia wake up!" the call came moments before a weight landed squarely on Leshia's shins. Yelping, the blonde girl leapt from her bed to find that her assailant had been Rachel, who was looking rather pleased with herself.

"What's the matter with you? It's a Saturday!" Leshia complained angrily and she rubbed hr sore legs.

"I can't believe you're forgotten Leesh! Don't you remember what day it is?"

"The day I thump you for being an annoying so-and-so?"

"Hogsmeade Leshia! We're going to Hogsmeade!" The change in the blonde girl was instantaneous as she suddenly grinned fit to burst and did a silly victory dance round the room. Within the hour the girls were stood dressed, fed and watered waiting in line with the other pupils lucky enough to have had permission slips signed and handed in by the first Friday of term, while their names were ticked off on a list by the caretaker Filch. As the girls reached the peculiar Squib he cast them a foul look, before nodding them on.

"What was his problem?" Katie asked curiously as they set off down the wide drive heading towards the gates bearing the winged boar statues. Only once before had one of them traversed the lane from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade by foot, and this was Leshia, on the occasion where she had sprinted towards the train station to stop her father giving up his job and going to China in the first year. Now the occasion couldn't have been any more different, as the late summer sun basked them with warmth and a hundred other students or so joined their ranks on the march into town.

"Maybe he's still upset about his favourite bathroom door having to be unhinged," Leshia suggested cheerfully.

"But that wasn't our fault!"

"Katie this is Filch we're talking about, the man's insane, I think we've already established that," Leshia laughed.

"So how are we going to inaugurate the new members of the Blue Lions?" Katie asked cheerfully once a comfortable silence between the girls had lasted long enough for them to pass through the gates of the school ensuring a sliver of excitement ran through the girls; they so rarely got to leave the grounds.

"Inaurguwhat?" Rachel asked with a wrinkled nose. Katie fixed her cousin a superior smile while the redhead turned to Leshia with raised hands. The blonde girl was looking equally as puzzled however. "You two are useless," Katie laughed. "It means swear in, how are we going to swear in the new members? Shall we have another initiation?"

"Katie you dark horse," Leshia remarked amusedly. "I didn't think you liked the initiation ceremony we gave the first years last year?"

"Well it was rather funny to see them transfigured into chickens."

"I don't think we should do initiation with the club," Rachel said thoughtfully. "We want these people to join, not scare them off."

"True," Leshia mused. "But we do have to find some way of making them swear to keep what goes on in our club secret. And how on earth will we do that?"

"We could do what our parents did," Katie suggested and she quickly continued to explain her rationale when she saw the tetchy look cross Leshia's face, "I know how you feel about copying them, but Leesh, what your mum thought up was ingenious!"

"Yes, but what my mum did didn't prevent people from telling secrets did it? It just made sure that when they broke the rules and told on the group, then they'd have nasty great big pimples show up on their face, by which point our group's secrets will still be told."

"Do I sense a long and boring trip to the library coming on?" Rachel sighed heavily, and she lamented her suggestion when both Katie and Leshia seemed dead-set on just that. The girls pondered what books they might research in order to find a spell or jinx that would prevent people from spilling a certain secret they had been asked to keep, the rest of the trip down the lane towards the village.

As they reached it, thoughts of the Blue Lions and of their impending research trip to the library were knocked from their heads when their eyes fell on the picturesque village. Several of the older students were making their way into the Three Broomsticks, which was the first thatched building the lane encountered.

"I've heard about that place, Madam Rosmerta does a wicked butterbeer," Rachel told her friends and so they decided to pay the tavern a visit. They fought their way through the crowds to the bar and were soon served by the Lady of the Tavern herself.

"What can I get you loves?" she asked the girls, and as she glanced up at their faces she did a visible double take. "Bless my heart," she chuckled. "Is it that time already?"

"Time for what?" Leshia asked with a frown.

"Another generation," the proprietor of the tavern laughed genially. The girls seemed none the wiser. "I remember your parents, I've seen Hermione around, but never would have guessed that you lot were this age already. My how time flies."

"You remember our parents?" Katie asked with a frown and she was granted a big smile by the barwoman.

"Yes of course, you're Harry and Ginny's girl," the woman observed. "You're just like both of them. And you," she continued as she turned her gaze on Rachel. "Ronald Weasley, yes I remember him very well." In an instant Leshia remembered something her mother had teased her father on a very long time ago when they seemed to get along.

"My dad fancied you," the girl exclaimed in amazement, eliciting a hearty laughter from the busty barwoman.

"Yes, I believe he did, poor thing."

"You've seen my mum around, but what about my dad, don't you ever see him?" Leshia asked curiously, and was surprised by the dark look that sprung onto the woman's face.

"Don't see him," she said quietly, anger lacing her tone. "He's barred."

"What? Why?" Leshia asked in surprise, but her question was ignored as the proprietor of the Three Broomsticks forced a false smile onto her face.

"Well my dears, it's lovely to meet you all, what may I assume your names are?"

"I'm Rachel, this is Katie and that's Leshia."

"Very well, now then what can I get you Rachel, Katie and Leshia?" Moments later the girls were carrying their tankards of cool butterbeer to a free booth in the corner, where they dropped down and enjoyed the first few sips of the frothy drink in silence, relishing in the delightful taste.

"She seemed nice," Rachel said cheerfully.

"Did your dad really fancy her?" Leshia sniggered, earning herself a playful punch on the arm from the Weasley girl.

"You can't talk, your dad went out with that ghastly Pansy Parkinson woman." Not needing to be reminded of the appalling woman her father had once courted, and had consequently made plenty of passes at him the year before, and curious over her father's barring from the tavern she looked at Madam Rosmerta from across the tavern and frowned.

"I wonder why she hates my dad," she wondered aloud. Leshia and Rachel shrugged their shoulders.  
"You've said yourself, a lot of people hate him," Rachel suggested.

"Well yeah, but why would _she_ hate him? I mean she seemed genuinely afraid of him. I'll have to ask him." Contemplating what her father could have done to the barwoman Leshia quietened down while she watched the occupants of the tavern. There was certainly an abundance of colourful characters and she could have quite happily spent the afternoon wiling away watching them, but all of a sudden two familiar and beaming faces parted the crowds. Leshia's first instinct upon seeing them was to rejoice, but when she realised that one of them was directing his beaming smile at Katie she soon turned sour and wanted them to disappear.

"Morning ladies," Rodeo called to the girls cheerfully as he and Parys dropped down around the girls' table with their own tankards of butterbeer.

"This place is amazing, we're going to go to the sweetshop after this and stock up," Parys told the girls delightedly and his handsome face seemed almost childlike with the glee it was currently expressing. Leshia had never felt so fond of him as she did now, and it must have been clear in her face because all of a sudden she found herself to be the focus of a glare cast by Rodeo. Feeling indescribably put out Leshia dropped her gaze to the table and fiddled with her tankard while the boys explained in great detail all the places they had been waiting to explore for many a year. Katie was in her element as Rodeo evidently lavished attention on her and at times it was quite uncomfortable for the rest of them, but the raven-haired girl didn't seem to notice.

Rachel was particularly upset with Katie, as was Parys with Rodeo; couldn't they see what their blatant flirting was doing to Leshia? And how could they be so insensitive as to do it right under her nose? To Parys there wad the added confusion as to what on earth was wrong with Rodeo to pick Katie over Leshia? He was mad, the dark haired boy concluded, completely and utterly mad. Yes Rodeo had confided in him that he felt Leshia would never go out with him, but he was blind or stupid if he could not see that the girl had feelings for him. Parys only wished she would feel that way about him.

"Come on Rodes," Parys said loudly when he couldn't stand the pain on Leshia's face any longer. "Better get going before all the shops close." Rodeo grinned to his friend and jumped to his feet, grinning at the girls gallantly.

"See you later," he said cheerfully before making his way out of the tavern with Parys in pursuit. Before the dark-haired boy followed him however, he reached out and ruffled Leshia's hair and offered a big grin, before he followed his friend. Leshia felt indescribably cheered up by his gesture.

"I think you should go out with Parys," Katie said with a big grin. Leshia managed to keep the scowl off her face as she shook her head.

"We're just friends," she managed and even though Katie was blind to Leshia's feelings, Rachel wasn't, so she quickly headed off a collision of tempers by spilling her tankard all down herself, eliciting raucous laughter from her friends. In much better spirits Katie and Leshia finished their drinks and then they were off. Within the hour they had bought bags full of sweets, several new irresistible objects from the branch of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes that had opened in Hogsmeade several years ago, and also a few spare quills – Katie had insisted her two friends purchase some, after all, they never knew when they would run out. With their loot tucked under their arms in their satchels, the girls ambled to the edge of the village where they had been told by their older cousins lay the Shrieking Shack, the most haunted house in Britain.

"Doesn't look that scary," Leshia remarked as she leaned against the barbed wire fence that separated them from the grounds of the crooked house. Katie shuddered by her side.

"I think it's terrifying," she whispered.

"It's not that frightening Katie," Rachel piped up cheerfully. "Let's go for a closer look."

"Hey yeah!"

"No! Can we go please?"

"What?" both Leshia and Rachel exclaimed.

"Katie don't be such a wuss and let's go," Leshia complained, but she halted when she saw the strange look come over Rachel's face as well. "Oh not you as well. What's the matter with you? Two seconds ago you were well up for going up there."

"I don't know Leesh, I feel strange," Rachel said worriedly and she shivered despite the warmth of the waning sun making the temperature quite pleasant. As though she were a catalyst, Leshia too felt a shudder of cold run through her body and she finally cottoned on to the fear her friends were exhibiting. For some indescribable reason, she wanted to run; to get far away from this place.

"Yeah," she said bravely. "Maybe we should go." On cue, all three girls suddenly burst into a run, but before she had even managed to take a step Leshia was painfully wrenched backwards by her hair. "I'm stuck!" she yelped. "Help!" Her friends darted back to her side and pushed Leshia's head forward revealing her beautiful golden curls and somehow become terribly entangled in the barbed wire of the fence.

"Oh God," Rachel whispered as she shivered in the sunlight.

"Rachel don't just stand there, help!" Katie complained desperately, and the two girls set about trying to pry their friend's hair off the fence. The insurmountable feeling of fear was building within them, and each one was certain that their impending doom was near. Something sinister, something twisted, dark and evil was approaching them, and if they couldn't get Leshia freed then they would be done for.

"Hurry," Leshia cried out in a terrified tone as her friends hurt her poor head by wrenching her hair from the fence.

"What's that smell?" Katie asked suddenly and she stopped attacking Leshia's hair momentarily to step back and smell the air with eyes wide in terror.

"Katie!" Rachel complained, but at this moment she'd managed to free the last of Leshia's golden curls and the girls were away, not daring to look behind themselves for fear of what they might find. They didn't stop running until they reached the centre of town, where they headed for the first friendly faces they could find: Owen Gabriel and his friends. Needless to say the young man was surprised when Leshia threw her arms round his shoulders, trembling from head to toe.

"What's happened?" he asked sounding concerned. "Leshia?" he pressed when the girl ignored him.

"We were just at the shrieking shack," Leshia explained shakily as she pulled away from the boy, far too scared for shame and embarrassment. "When suddenly this really sinister horrible feeling came over us. There's something out there Owen, something that wanted to hurt us!" At this Owen's two friends sniggered, but they were quickly silenced by a hard look from the tall boy.

"Come on." He led the girls back to the Three Broomsticks where Madam Rosmerta served them all another round of Butterbeers (remarking, "Back so soon?" when she saw them). Owen led them to a booth and then assured them that he was going to go investigate. Within ten minutes he was back to find the girls hadn't touched their drinks and were still frozen to the spot in fear. His news was not encouraging.

"There was nothing there," he said with a frown as he dropped down at the table. "Whatever it was is long gone. You didn't get a look at it?"

"I was stuck to a fence," Leshia said very softly, before her face finally crumpled in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry Owen! I'm so embarrassed." The young man grinned at her dashingly and shook his head.

"Don't be, glad I could help," he said cheerfully, before he climbed back to his feet again. "I can never resist a damsel in distress." With this he nodded to the girls and went off to join his friends, they were heading back to the castle. For a further ten minutes the girls sat in silence while each managed to conjure up the strength to drink a little of their new tankards of butterbeer. Finally Leshia managed to speak,

"I have no idea what just happened," she concluded.

"Do you think it was real?" Rachel asked worriedly. Leshia and Katie frowned at her, before nodding firmly.

"Of course it was, we're not exactly going to manufacture feelings of pure evil out of nowhere are we?" Katie complained. "What has me worried was that strange smell, didn't you smell it?"

"It was the smell of death," Rachel whispered darkly, and after turning to look at her with two furrowed brows her friends started laughing for the first time since they had wandered over to the Shrieking Shack.

XXX

By evening the girls had shaken off the feeling of doom they had encountered in Hogsmeade, and Leshia had since profusely apologised to Owen Gabriel, who seemed perfectly fine with the fact that Leshia had used him as a human shield. He seemed quite flattered in fact. Starving now, the girls were very much looking forward to dinner, but it would seem that before they would get the chance to take their seats, they were going to have to overcome a hurdle.

"Well, well, well," the unpleasant voice of Damian Allseyer came, moments before the ghastly boy himself made an appearance, creeping out from behind a pillar in the entrance hall. Leshia glared at him firmly. For a moment the boy matched her glare, before suddenly he donned a terrified expression and pointed behind Leshia. "Oh no!" he exclaimed in fear, and still feeling edgy the girls spun around. "There's a shadow behind you!"

"Oh very funny," Leshia fumed as she spun around to find the Slytherins doubled over in laughter. How on earth had they found out?

"What's the matter Malfoy? Would you like me to fetch that incompetent bean pole Gabriel to make it all better?"

"You shut your mouth Allseyer, you have no idea what you're talking about." In a flash it happened, and later Leshia regretted letting her temper get the better of her, but at the time it had felt so satisfying to reach out and punch the unpleasant boy right in the mouth. Damian Allseyer bent over in pain, clutching his bloody mouth in surprise, while Leshia stared at her hand in amazement. What had she just done?

"Miss Malfoy!" the shocked voice of Professor Lewis came and Leshia spun around to find that her assault on the boy had been monitored by the new Muggle Studies teacher.

"I…" she began, unable to defend her action.

"Detention! My study after classes on Monday," Professor Lewis told the girl firmly. "You will not go around hitting other students."

"But she was provoked sir," Rachel tried.

"Rach don't," Leshia quickly told her friend, not wanting her to be dragged down with her.

"I shall be informing Professor McGonagall about this, for which I am sure she will want to take further action also." Leshia hung her head ashamedly while Professor Lewis placed his hand on Allseyer's arm. "Come along, I'll take you to the hospital wing." After the teacher had led away the injured boy his friends glared firmly at Leshia before walking off muttering about demands to have the girl expelled. Leshia felt indescribably low and over dinner she barely said a word, despite the enthusiastic conversations being thrown around about the day's Hogsmeade visit.

Once the pupils had enjoyed their fill and were making their way back to their respective common rooms Leshia darted from her friends' sides claiming she needed to let off steam. They knew where she was going and so left her to it while she made her way to the painting that concealed her parents' quarters.

"Hello?" the called out when she found the living room deserted. A muffled cry came from the bathroom and within moments Leshia had darted through the empty bedroom to find the bathroom door locked with the sounds of her mother being sick coming from beyond it. "Mum? Are you okay?" There was no reply, and for five minutes the girl waited on tenterhooks until finally her mother appeared looking very sick indeed. "Mum what's wrong?"

"Oh it's nothing darling," Hermione assured her daughter and she scooped the girl into a hug. "I'm just feeling a little under the weather." Leshia helped her mother through to the living room where she quickly made her a cup of tee and then curled up by her side. "Now then, I hear you've been going around hitting other students," Hermione remarked lightly, though a small smile pulled at her mouth.

"Not students plural mum, just one, and it was only once and I am sorry, I didn't mean to, he just provoked me," Leshia explained ashamedly; she knew how much her mother objected to physical violence.

"Leshia promise me this vendetta the two of you share isn't growing violent again? I could not bear to find you in pieces in the hospital wing again, I truly couldn't."

"I know. It won't come to that."

"You should apologise to him before he can turn his thoughts to revenge."

"I am _not _apologising to Allseyer!" Hermione sighed, before she smiled broadly.

"You really are just like your father aren't you? I'm happy you've forgiven him for whatever he did that so insulted you. It destroys him when you're unhappy with him." Leshia hung her head feeling rotten, why did she have to cause her parents such grief?

"About dad, well, we were in the Three Broomsticks earlier and the barwoman there, I think she's called Madam Rosmerta or something, well, she didn't like dad very much." A cold look crossed Hermione's pretty face, and it was one that didn't go unnoticed by Leshia. "I was wondering if you could tell me why?"

"He used to play pranks in that pub when we were in school," Hermione lied, telling her daughter the practiced line Draco had thought up when he realised Leshia would soon find out about Rosmerta's intense dislike of him. She had never been able to forgive him for putting her under the Imperius curse when he was in sixth year and had since barred him from stepping foot within the three Broomsticks. Fearing if Leshia found out why he was barred that she would then find out what else had happened during his last few years of school, Draco had begged the barwoman not to tell the girl anything. Begrudgingly, and only because there was a child involved, Rosmerta had agreed. However, not Hermione had to lie to her child, which was something she was loath to do.

"What sort of pranks?" Leshia asked with a frown.

"Oh you know the wicked things your father did," Hermione told her daughter firmly, trying to head her off. "I'd rather not talk about it darling, I don't like to remember him that way." This much was true and Leshia couldn't put her mother trough any pain, so she backed off. The girl seemed incredibly glum.

"Cheer up darling, please," Hermione said softly and she kissed the top of the girl's head. "Things are going to get better around here, just you wait."

"You know something don't you?" Leshia suddenly exclaimed with a frown. "What's happening?" Hermione's eyes twinkled and she shook her head.

"Now that would ruin the surprise."

"What surprise?"

"Be patient Leesh, I'm sure Albus is going to tell you all tomorrow."

"Tell us _what_?"

"My lips are sealed!"

XXX

All throughout the following day the girls contemplated what this surprise could be, while they attempted to do the piles of homework they had been set. Leshia was briefly excused from her work to attend a quidditch session in which she played very well and even managed to meet Owen Gabriel's eye. He didn't seem perturbed by her behaviour the day before and was actually amused by the whole thing, but this did not stop Leshia's cheeks from burning when she thought of the way she had thrown herself at him.

Dinner time finally dragged by and the girls ate very little as their conversation from earlier had spread to the rest of the table and now everyone in Gryffindor house knew that some sort of surprise was going to be revealed. Most of the girls in the house had their hopes pinned on a ball, though Leshia desperately hoped it would something adventurous and exciting. The thought of a Triwizard tournament taking place had briefly crossed her mind, though she was aware (from her mother's stories when she was younger) that since the death of Cedric Diggory the tournament had been scrapped; she lamented it's loss.

After dinner, the hall fell silent when Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet at the top table.

"Pupils," his voice rose above the curious silence. "I have the great pleasure of telling you that this year Hogwarts will be hosting a new competition. To be more precise: a quidditch competition." Leshia's eyes went so wide she nearly stopped breathing with excitement, both the words 'quidditch' and 'competition' filled her with immense excitement, so much so that she could barely contain it. "The organisers of the various International Wizarding sporting events have long decided that there is a great lack of friendly competition between the great wizarding schools of the world, and therefore they have designed a new competition to fill this void: the International Schools Quidditch Tournament, or rather, ISQT as it has now been dubbed."

Chatter broke out over the hall as the thought of their very own quidditch World Cup urged the pupils into spontaneous chatter.

"There shall be ten teams competing from around the world, each team consisting of eight players. We have been very fortunate in being selected as the first school to host this new tournament, and as such, we will be hosting the other nine schools. The pupils from these schools will require sleeping room, and as such we will be appealing to your national spirit and your generosity to open up your dormitories to the influx of new arrivals who will be staying for a week." Once more chatter broke out. "If you feel you would be willing to do this, you must discuss it with those who share your dormitory and must therefore also bare the brunt of a visitor, and then write your name on the sheet that will be affixed to the notice board in the entrance hall."

"We're up for that aren't we?" Leshia asked her friends, who nodded with big smiles.

"We'll do it after dinner," Ashley whispered from across the table.

"As to who will make up the eight players of the Hogwarts quidditch side, this will be decided by a series of trials. Everyone who so desires may try out, you need not be part of one of our house teams. Madam Hooch will be overseeing the preparations. If you feel you have what it takes then please, you must sign the form on the quidditch notice board in the entrance hall."

On the Gryffindor table, Leshia's friends turned to grin at her, as though assuming that she was shoe-in; she was after all the most talented seeker in the regular quidditch season at Hogwarts. Feeling incredibly aware of the attention on her Leshia shielded her face with her hand.

"Now then, we have two months, as the competition will be held the last week of term. I am sure we will all have an excellent time, and if I do say so myself, let us try and win this one eh?" With this the headmaster sat down once more to a cheer erupting from the children.

XXX

That evening, the girls huddled in the common room while everyone explained, mimed and acted out the way in which they were going to make the Hogwarts team and help them win the glory of the ISQT cup. Leshia kept out of the conversation, and when all eyes turned on her after Rodeo had proudly announced she would be the team's seeker, she called it a night and went to bed.

The following morning the girls rose early and dressed in record time, managing to get down to the great hall for breakfast along with the earliest of risers. On their way in their put their dormitory name on the sheet for hosting the international pupils and then Leshia placed her name on the quidditch sheet. Dozens of hopefuls had already done so, and seeing all their names made Leshia feel a little overwhelmed. Did she have what it takes?

Over breakfast the youngsters relived the discussions from last night, while up at the top table Draco was being questioned by his colleagues on Hermione's absence from the table.

"She's not feeling well," he told them, secretly adding, 'Again!' The young man had risen to the sound of his wife being sick once more and he was secretly very worried for her and wished that she would at least go and see Madam Pomfry in the hospital wing, but Hermione was as stubborn as he was, if not more so, and she flat-out refused. "Women," the young man grumbled fondly as he tucked into his breakfast. He was in a good mood, as he had put that business with the Order behind him and was feeling indescribably uplifted. In truth, he had to admit it was because he felt his daughter was going to get onto the Hogwarts team and then lead them to glory. He would feel such pride.

With the arrival of the post however, the world was about to come crashing down, as Draco Malfoy received a faded parchment marked by a single line of red script. The words made his heart freeze and the colour drain from his face:

_I know what you are traitor_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

End of part III

Please review :) and thanks to all those who have already reviews and continue to show support for the series. Doing this for you guys :)


	4. Part Four

**Generations: The Blue Lions**

**Part IV**

With a trembling hand Draco carefully rolled the parchment up and slipped it into the back pocket of his trousers. Feeling suddenly trapped he lurched to his feet causing his heavy chair to scrape across the slate tiles of the great hall. As one his fellow teachers turned to look at him in surprise, but the dining pupils, Leshia included, were too wrapped up in their own conversations to notice the sudden actions of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

"Draco, whatever is the matter?" Professor McGonagall asked worriedly. The young man couldn't offer her an explanation and instead he fled through the back door into the thankfully empty staff corridor beyond. Who on earth could know about his past? Yes, his father of course, but Lucius was in hiding and could not have simply waltzed back into his old circle of acquaintances and start spreading the malicious truth of Draco's past life. Besides, the Ministry had been monitoring the dark characters who used to deal with Lucius Malfoy and none had shown any inkling that they knew of Lucius' reappearance – none of them seemed to be walking with a swagger in their step for starters.

Ignoring the fact that his first lesson of the day was due to start in fifteen minutes, Draco flew down the corridors until he reached the portrait that concealed the entrance to the chambers he had recently left his wife in in a poorly state. Hermione had since regained her composure and was trying to keep down a piece of toast so that she could make her way to her first lesson of the day.

"Draco," the young woman exclaimed in surprise when her husband came flying through the portrait hole. "What's wrong? You're as white as a sheet!"

"I have to go to London," Draco explained seriously. "Just for a few hours." With this he headed for the fireplace on the other side of the living chamber. Hermione looked affronted to say the least.

"You're doing what? Why?"

"I can't explain, just trust me that I have a very good reason."

"Draco!" Hermione complained desperately and she crossed the room within moments as her husband was reaching for a handful of floo powder. "You're not making any sense. What's happened? Is it Leshia, has something happened?" For a moment Draco stared at his wife blankly.

"What? No, it's nothing to do with either of you, just please, tell them I've had to leave unexpectedly." With this the young man shrugged his arm free from his wife's grip and stepped into the grate.

"Draco!" Hermione warned sounding upset, but her husband didn't heed her.

"Diagon Alley!" And with this he was gone, leaving Hermione staring into the hearth, as the green flames ebbed away leaving nothing but a huge gaping void of confusion.

XXX

The girls enjoyed a productive day in which they gained their house a dozen housepoints between them, however after break throughout their transfiguration lesson the three youngsters started dreading what they had next: Divination. Their second lesson with the bizarre Centaur had yielded similar results to the first: wishy-washy nonsense the girls had found very difficult to get their heads round. Their experiences with Professor Trelawney had not improved their opinions on the subject and as they entered this third week of the term they were severely regretting their choice of subject.

As they rounded the corridor on the bottom floor leading to the forest classroom Firenze taught them in ("If you can call it teaching," Katie would always mutter when someone dared to suggest that Divination involved actual teaching) a pack of unruly and despicable Slytherins came into view. Damian Allseyer was standing at the front of the group glaring Leshia down as though he felt his glare carried enough ferocity to kill her on sight.

"You!" the boy growled when Leshia and her friends walked within hearing range. Evidently he was still furious at being punched by a girl. "You mark my words Malfoy, you are going to suffer for what you did!" A plethora of comebacks sprung into Leshia's mind, but as she sifted through the witty remarks and insults, her mother's voice rang in her ears, begging her not to get sucked into another vendetta this year. The girl simply couldn't hurt her mother so, not again.

"I'm sorry." As though she had just suddenly grown three heads, the children in the entire class turned and stared at Leshia, their jaws hanging wide. None looked more shocked than Rachel and Katie, who for one moment wondered whether their leader had been replaced by a Doppelganger.

Damian Allseyer's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a few moments while he tried to get his head around this turnabout in his nemesis' behaviour. Leshia Malfoy didn't just apologise, there had to be another reason for her cowardice and submissive act. The boy wasn't given a chance to retort as at this moment the door swung open and the children started to file in. Leshia and her friends walked in last, with the cousins still staring at the blonde girl in utter confusion.

"I'll explain later," Leshia finally told them before they dropped down on the moss around their 'teacher' to begin the lesson. Firenze was wonderfully vague as usual and by the end of the hour 'lesson' Katie was spitting with frustration at having followed her friends' lead and picked such a subject. Rachel desperately wanted to tease her about it, but there were more pressing issues at hand, such as Leshia suddenly being possessed.

"So Leesh, care to explain what just happened there?" Rachel demanded the moment the girls stepped foot outside the classroom on their way to the great hall for their lunch. Leshia rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders in an action that hopefully conveyed to her friends to drop their inquiry, as it really wasn't that big a deal. So she apologised to Allseyer, so what?

The girl stopped still in the corridor and her face froze; the true realisation of what she had just done suddenly dawned on her and for a moment she felt sick to her stomach.

"What have I done?" she groaned as she brought her hands up to her face in horror. "I just _apologised_ to Allseyer!" Rachel and Katie exchanged an obvious glance as if to say 'Um…yeah!'

"Why did you?"

"I don't know, it was all that stuff about him saying he was going to get me back. See my mum talked to me over the weekend, she was really worried that I was going to get myself into a fight to the death again." Katie and Rachel didn't think was a good enough reason to explain Leshia's momentary insanity and continued to give her a hard time about in throughout lunch, at which point Rodeo and Parys so tactfully joined in. By the time they reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor to await the arrival of Draco and the start of their lesson, every single Gryffindor was watching her with immense disappointment, while their Slytherin counterparts grinned slyly at the girl. So, Alecia Malfoy had lost her nerve had she? Well this was going to get interesting.

Leshia met each of their nosy gazes with defiance, just daring them to mention what had happened earlier, but before she could make a start of repairing her reputation, the strong loping strides of their teacher could be heard coming down the corridor. After glaring firmly at Damien Allseyer, who had merely smirked cockily at the girl from his position Leshia spun around ready for lessons, straightening her shirt and tie. Where she had expected to find the dichotic expression on her father's face as he approached his class however, she found the sneering grimace of Professor Snape. With a hugely furrowed brow Leshia followed her friends inside once Snape had shoved the door open, waltzing in ahead of the third years. Before Leshia had even touched her seat she raised her hand into the air. Snape was outright ignoring her as he wiped the blackboard clean. Leshia remained standing, her hand straight in the air as those around her took their seats.

"Yes Miss Malfoy? If you must insist on wasting everyone's time!" Snape said sharply as he finally turned around.

"Where's Professor Malfoy?" the girl asked simply.

"That, is none of your business," Snape merely replied firmly. "Now sit down you silly girl." Leshia lowered her head a little, feeling furious with the Potions Master. The fact that her father was absent was very much her business, the girl felt, much more so than it was Snape's.

"Actually, it is my business, he's _my_ dad," the girl countered impertinently. Snape's upper lip curled in frustration, and after inhaling sharply a few times, he spun around again facing the blackboard with the chalk in his hand, ready to start the lesson.

"Five housepoints from Gryffindor. Now sit down or you will be spending the lesson down in the dungeons with all manner of horrible tasks that I shall make for you." Leshia bit her lip furiously, but then realised that this was not the best way to find out what had happened to her father. So reluctantly, the girl retook her seat and crossed her arms across her chest. Her defiance had won back the admiration of her housemates, who now watched her with suppressed grins on their faces; this was the ringleader they knew and loved.

For fifteen minutes Leshia gazed out the window, flat-out refusing to learn anything from Snape in her father's absence; all the while, her keen mind addressing every possibility as to the whereabouts of her father. Surely she would have noticed him getting ill, and besides, she couldn't even remember a time he had been ill in the past, so why would he start now? Her belligerence was not going unnoticed however, and with every question she blanked, Snape grew ever more furious. Just as he was about to call the indifferent young girl on her attitude however, the door to the classroom swung open and a pale-faced Draco strode in. A face set in a grim stony expression revealed that whatever Draco had been doing, it had not gone his way, and instantly Leshia felt worried. Was it about her grandfather?

"Thank you Severus, I'll take it from here," he told his friend coldly. The Potions master looked from the young man to his daughter with his hand still mid-raised, desperate to articulate the punishment he had about to subject her with.

"Very well," the snide old man finally sneered with an edge of petulance to his own voice, before he stalked from the room without another word. Draco sighed heavily, not wanting to know what had caused his old friend to behave so; though he did suspect that his daughter probably had a lot to do with it, which of course only increase his urge not to find out.

"I apologise for my delay," he told the class with a heavy sigh. "I assume that Professor Snape filled in adequately for me and that by now you have reached page three hundred and thirty one?" Several of the children nodded while a bony hand flew into the air from somewhere towards the back of the class. Draco made a very quiet exasperated noise, but lifted his eyes to his daughter's curious expression.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Are you ill professor?" the girl asked simply. Draco stared at her hardly, trying to will her not to continue her barrage of questions.

"No, and you will stop right there Miss Malfoy, we are not discussing this now," Draco said gruffly, articulating every word with a snap of frustration. Leshia was not deterred however.

"So you've been away?" Shaking slightly from anger and frustration Draco pointed to the door. He would not have Leshia flat-out disobeying him and paying no heed to his authority in his own classroom. She had to go.

"Out," he merely said firmly. Several Slytherins sniggered from across the classroom while Leshia's friends spun around to see how the girl was going to react to this injustice.

"What?" the blonde girl demanded, complete and utter disbelief clear in her face.

"You heard me, out!"

"But I…"

"Do not make me throw you out, move it." For a moment silence permeated the stuffy classroom, until eventually the loud snap of Leshia slamming her book down and the scraping of her chair across the stone floor broke it with a racket. Without another word she gathered up her things and strode out of the classroom, slamming the door behind herself. Draco fumed for a few moments, panting with anger as he watched the door and strongly considered going after his daughter, but the class of shocked children were waiting for their lesson. No, he would deal with her later.

Her face completely scrunched up in fury, Leshia stormed up the corridor and ascended the stairs, heading for her mother's classroom. How dare her father throw her out for such a minor indiscretion? How dare he! Within moments she had reached her mother's door, and without caring that inside the young woman was most likely teaching a class full of pupils, she pushed the door open forcefully, making everyone inside jump with surprise.

"Leshia…" Hermione exclaimed.

"I need to talk to you," the youngster merely stated, before she pulled back out into the corridor. Hermione glanced briefly to her fourth year class and smiled awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, this will only take a minute." And with this she rushed from behind her desk to the corridor, leaving her pupils glancing at one another in confusion. Amongst them Owen Gabriel looked at his friend Dan with a brow dipped in concern.

"Wonder what's happened now," he said softly. Out in the corridor Hermione was wondering the same thing as Leshia paced the floor; still so furious it was controlling her actions.

"Darling what's happened? You can't just burst into my lessons and disrupt them."

"It's dad!" Leshia grumbled.

"What's the matter? Is he alright?"

"He just threw me out of his class for _no_ reason! All I did was ask him where the heck he's been, seeing as Snape was taking our class for fifteen minutes. What's so bad about that? I mean did he have to throw me out? It was so _embarrassing_!" the girl ranted, feeling her skin crawling with anger. For a moment the relief of hearing her husband was in fact alive and well swept over the young teacher, before she truly digested what her daughter had told her.

"He did what?"

"I know!"

"Well what did you say?" Leshia stared at her mother with wild eyes.

"Do not tell me you're taking his side!"

"No of course not," Hermione consoled. "He was out of line, and when lessons are over I'll tell him." This didn't seem to be the reaction Leshia had been hoping for, but it was all she was going to get, so she sighed heavily and nodded.

"Fine."

"Try and calm down darling, I'm sure he's got a perfectly reasonable explanation…"

"Oh you always take his side! I'm so fed-up of the both of you!" the youngster suddenly exploded, before she turned on heel and stormed off again leaving her mother watching her retreating back with a very worried frown; Leshia was definitely her father's daughter!

XXX

Before Leshia had even realised where she was going, her feet had taken her to the library. With all manner of things to research and nowhere else to go she resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to spend some time in the God-awful place. She hated the library, mainly because of the librarian who stalked the aisles hushing everyone with a very aggressive 'shhusssh'.

Time was ticking by dreadfully slowly, and within ten minutes the girl had given up on her search for spells she had been trying to research for the Blue Lions. Instead, she turned her sights on a book entitled _The Great Magical Schools of the World_. The youngster had realised the other night when Dumbledore had made the ISQT announcement that she knew very little about her international peers. How many other Magical schools were there?

As Leshia flicked the front cover open her eyes were met with a large map that detailed the position of the top one hundred magical schools of the world. The girl was very surprised to see that in the south of England there was a second British Magical School called Hitchings, which she learned – after flicking to page two-hundred as instructed - was an all girls school and wasn't considered to be terribly good. Indeed, the pictures of the bland-faced miserable looking girls painted a perfect picture of what life at Hitchings was like. There was no need for the five pages of minute scrawl to tell Leshia she was deliriously happy that she had not been sent there. After a brief shudder she started to flick through the pages of the book, wondering which schools were going to compete in the tournament alongside Hogwarts.

"Probably the top eight," Leshia pondered aloud, as she flicked to the front of the book again and glanced at the list of schools. She felt a pang of both pride and petulance as she noticed that Hogwarts was joint first alongside two other schools Salem High in the United States and Schola Atrumlucis in Greece. Several other big names filled the top eight spots and Leshia started to get excited about the prospect of meeting people from all the different countries. After flicking through the pages on the Greek witchcraft and wizardry school, Leshia turned her sights on the American magical school. Instantly her eyes widened in amazement as the bright moving pictures of a bustling corridor came into view. Strange metallic long objects lined the walls of the corridor, which the jeans and T-shirt clad (obviously no uniform here) youngster kept opening and closing, depositing or collecting various belongings and books. The sights of this strange exotic school enthralled Leshia and she stared in wonder at the broad and bright corridors and the airy classrooms, evidently within a modern building.

Turning another page Leshia found a picture of a huge glass atrium, which acted as the entrance to the school, beyond which a car park and a busy road were clearly visible. Did this school not have to be hidden? How did they avoid countless muggles wandering in? Fascinated by the newness of the building, and the good-looking youngsters that wandered about in their cliques, Leshia wondered what it would be like to have gone to school there. Page after page she turned, feeling more and more jealous of her American counterparts. Their school seemed delightful. On the last page of the Salem high section, she found a double spread dedicated to their sporting success. Quidditch, of course, was the focus of the piece and as she read down the page Leshia felt a sick knot building in her throat. These Salem High youngsters were legendary at the sport. How on earth would they beat them?

Indeed, the pictures displayed countless fantastic display of sporting excellence, one after the next. And with every great goal, save and catch of the snitch Leshia felt weaker and weaker, until eventually she slammed the book shut and shook her head worriedly.

"Don't panic," she admonished herself. "They might not even be there!"

XXX

An hour or so later Leshia suddenly found herself not to be alone anymore when with a pop she was joined by the unsightly green elf that was her father's servant. Tally the Houself had served the Malfoys for many a generation, and Leshia couldn't stand the sight of the horrid little creature, as more often than not Tally had exposed her mischief making to her father, who was inevitably never impressed.

"What do you want now?" Leshia asked drolly, before the highly-strung little elf had been given the chance to open her mouth.

"Master has given Miss Leshia strict instructions to be in his officer when lessons end."

"Oh has he now?" Leshia sneered grumpily.

"And Miss Leshia _will_ be there," Tally added with a hint of the wrath in her voice that Leshia would incur should she disobey Draco.

"Yeah, I'll be there," Leshia said with narrowed eyes as she worked out what she was going to say when she saw her father at half past three. Without so much as a goodbye, Tally had disappeared again in a haze of grey smoke: her only way of inflicting pain upon Leshia, as the smoke inevitably smelt revolting. "Oh God," Leshia exclaimed and she jumped to her feet grabbing her satchel as she went. "Damn houself!" With this she made her way back down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor where her father's lesson was coming to a close. Per instruction from the rotten little elf, Leshia pushed her father's study door open and took a seat behind his desk, glancing about the papers to see whether she could find anything that could account for his unexplained absence.

Nothing seemed to shed any light on the situation and finally the bell at half past three went, followed promptly by a scraping of chairs from next door in the classroom. The sounds of her delighted classmates filled the corridor, as they gleefully made their way back to their respective common rooms, free for yet another evening. Leshia crossed her arms over her chest and eyed the door separating her father's office from his classroom with narrowed eyes, determined to defy him whatever he was about to say. Eventually the handle turned and the door swung forth to reveal her father's unreadable expression. He carried in a pile of scrolls and dropped them on the settee before he finally looked upon the girl. They locked eyes for a few moments, until eventually Draco sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry." Leshia's expression immediately jumped from furious to shocked in the blink of an eye, and very slowly she started to inch away from her father on the wheeled chair. Draco laughed genially. "No I am actually sorry." What sort of new approach was this, the girl wondered. Was he lulling her into a false sense of security before finally letting rip? She continued to inch away from him as though he were a ticking time bomb about to go off. "I know I shouldn't have snapped the way I did, and I definitely shouldn't have thrown you out the classroom. I'm sorry okay?" Realising finally that Draco was deadly serious Leshia's face morphed back into defiance.

"No you shouldn't! That was so embarrassing!"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Stop saying sorry, it's unnerving," the girl said grumpily, though her anger was ebbing away. Draco laughed as he met her eyes and she saw nothing but fondness there, where earlier she had almost been sure she had seen fear.

"Do I really apologise so infrequently?" Draco asked amusedly as he crossed his office and started to examine a pile of papers on his desk.

"Yes," Leshia said frankly. Draco chuckled to himself once more, but before he could reply the door to his office swung open once more.

"Draco Malfoy, you had better have a good excuse for running off to London without…" Hermione stood still in the doorway with wide eyes when she saw that her husband was not in fact alone in his office. Draco shut his eyes tightly as Leshia turned very slowly from her mother to her father.

"Why were you in London?" came the inevitable question.

"Leshia…" Draco began.

"Why were you in London?"

"I'm not…"

"Why were you in London?"

"Stop it…" Once more the girl repeated her question, and she continued to repeat it over and over and over with every utterance her father made, following him about the office until finally he made a loud exasperated groan and lifted the girl clean off her feet and deposited her out in the corridor. Before she could spin around and voice her question once more the door was shut in her face and locked making re-entry impossible. Instead of being furious over being physically expulsed from the conversation she truly felt she ought to have been a part of, Leshia burned with curiosity. What had her father been doing in London that was so urgent it could not wait for the weekend and had left him so visibly shaken up? Despite herself, Leshia shuddered with worry as she made her way back to her common room.

Entirely caught up in her own worrying thoughts, Leshia didn't realise that she had taken a wrong turn and now found herself in a windy little corridor of disused classrooms and furniture that had long outgrown their usefulness.

"Damn," she grumbled as she turned on heel in order to return the way she had come. Before she had even taken two steps however, the hair on the back of her neck stood up right on end as a shudder of involuntary terror snaked its way across Leshia's skin. The haunting smell of death danced around her nose seductively as the corridor ahead of the girl stretched out into the distance. Rooted to the spot with utmost terror, Leshia was sure she had stopped breathing.

"Move," a hoarse rasp escaped from deep within her, and as though suddenly broken from a spell she lurched into action, sprinting down the corridor as fast as her short legs could take her. The bustle of the corridor leading to Gryffindor tower loomed ahead and for a moment Leshia laughed triumphantly as she realised she was going to make it.

BANG

Pain seared through the girl's head as she opened her bleary eyes to see a colossal cabinet had landed on her chest. How she had winded up on the floor as anybody's guess.

"Help!" the girl cried out, before her mind had kicked into action. She was still running on the adrenalin that had been pumping through her system moments before. "Somebody! Help!" But as she regained her senses, Leshia realised that whatever had had her running scared just moments ago was now gone, and though her hair was still stood on end all over her body, there was no need to fear the darkness any more.

"Leshia, is that you?"

"Owen!" Leshia cried out when she heard the voice of her friend. "Owen I can't move!" The sound of several running footsteps echoed down the corridor until eventually Owen and two of his friends had slid into view on their knees, all of them reaching out to shift the heavy cabinet off the trapped girl.

"What happened?" Owen demanded as he and the boys heaved against the heavy furniture.

"I don't know," Leshia exclaimed with a pained wince. "Hurry! I can't breath!" Spurred on by the pain in the young girl's voice the young men finally managed to push the cabinet aside, freeing Leshia to sit up as though she had been fired up by a spring, clutching at her chest in agony.

"Are you okay?" Owen asked worriedly as he gripped her shoulders in concern. Leshia nodded slowly, feeling mortified that for the second time, Owen Gabriel had had to come to her rescue. "Do you want us to take you to the hospital wing?"

"No," Leshia suddenly complained, before she smiled at the young man. "Really I'm fine. My mum will have kittens if she finds out what happened."

"Well what did happen?" one of Owen's friends asked with a frown.

"Was it to do with earlier?" Owen interrupted. Leshia wrinkled her brow at him. What was he talking about? "You burst into our lesson earlier, you seemed really upset about something. Is there someone after you?" Leshia's eyes went wide.

"No," she said firmly, quite in disbelief that that had been Owen's lesson she had burst in on and had not noticed the young man sitting in the classroom. The young man seemed unconvinced. "That was about something else. No, it was Peeves, he pushed the cabinet onto me." The lie came out so naturally that Owen and his friends instantly believed her.

"Oh that is it," Owen grumbled furiously. "Come on, we're going to McGonagall's about this, there is no way that little prat is going to go around throwing cabinets at girls. It's not on!" With this the tall young man climbed to his feet and hoisted Leshia onto hers with the ease of someone blessed with his strength. The girl was practically frog-marched down the corridors by her friend – his friends in turn, making their way back to the common room – until they reached McGonagall's office, and before she could wheedle her way out of it, Owen knocked firmly on the door.

"I really don't think…" she began worriedly.

"Leesh it's not on," the boy interrupted with concern in his hazel eyes. "Peeves hurt you! I'm not going to let him get away with it!" Silenced by his loyalty, Leshia stared up at him in amazement before the door to McGonagall's office swung open.

"Yes?" the scratchy voice of their head of house wafted out to greet them. "Ah, Mr Gabriel, Miss Malfoy, what can I do for you?" Owen led Leshia inside the office and pushed Leshia into one of the seats opposite McGonagall quite unceremoniously before he took the one beside her.

"Peeves dropped a cabinet on Leshia just now," the boy said frankly, hidden anger burning beneath the surface. Professor McGonagall looked surprised to say the least.

"Excuse me?"

"We were just walking back from our lesson, Dan, Paul and me, and we hear Leshia calling for help. She was being flattened by this huge cabinet that Peeves had pushed on top of her. It's not on Professor, she could have been seriously hurt."

"Are you hurt Miss Malfoy?" McGonagall asked quickly, with a worried glance to Leshia. The girl shrugged her small shoulders under the severe gaze of her friend.

"A little," she replied meekly. "It was frightening, I couldn't really breath." As though this was the conviction he needed to have Peeves thrown out of Hogwarts Owen turned back to McGonagall.

"See?"

"Well how do you know it was Peeves Leshia?" McGonagall was continuing, she could see there was something that Leshia was hiding.

"I saw him," the girl lied easily, feeling rotten for blaming the ghost. "I don't know if he was aiming the cabinet at me, but I did see him down the corridor messing around with it."

"Professor something has to be done," Owen was continuing firmly, back on his soapbox once more. "If a pupil had pushed a cabinet on another then they would be expelled wouldn't they? How come Peeves can get away with blue murder?"

"That is quite enough Mr Gabriel," McGonagall soothed, not sounding angry in the slightest. "I understand your concern for your friend, but we must assume this has been a very unfortunate accident until I can discuss the matter with Peeves and the headmaster."

"But Professor…"

"I simply cannot accept that Peeves did this on purpose Mr Gabriel without further proof, as Miss Malfoy herself has confessed, she does not know he was targeting her, it may have been an accident." The room fell into silence as Leshia stared at Owen in nothing short of wonder. Why was he being like this? Anyone would think Peeves had thrown a cabinet at _him_. She hadn't asked him to fight her corner, and yet here he was, almost shaking with anger that there wasn't going to be any justice for Leshia.

'Maybe he really hates Peeves,' the girl pondered privately.

"Fine," Owen finally sighed and he seemed to calm down, before he climbed to his feet. Leshia quickly copied him and jumped up at his side.

"You're sure you're alright Miss Malfoy?" Professor McGonagall checked. "I really think you ought to go to the hospital wing. Better safe than sorry."

"I'll be fine," Leshia assured the head of the house. "Really." With this the two youngsters departed and McGonagall watched them leave with a twinkling smile on her face. On their way back to the common room Owen seemed calm down a little, and instead of ranting and raving about the poltergeist as Leshia had expected him too, he merely talked about the upcoming ISQT tryouts. He seemed certain that Leshia would make it onto the team even though she was less sure of herself, and then she informed him of what she had read on the rival school that most likely was going to make the top eight schools chosen for the tournament. The prodigal keeper seemed less concerned than his blonde friend, and by the time they'd reached the common room his confidence had stilled Leshia's fear about the tournament. Of course Hogwarts stood a chance at winning the cup, they were after all in one of the best nations for Quidditch that the world had ever seen, so surely that had to matter somewhat?

"Thanks Owen," the girl finally said as they climbed inside the portrait hole side by side. The tall youngster looked at the girl with a lopsided grin, before he reached out and ruffled her hair much like Ryan Lofting used to.

"No worries," he said cheerfully. "Got to look after our own haven't we?" With this he sloped off to find his friends while Leshia ambled over to the usual window box she and her friends commandeered to find said friends staring at her with mischievous grins.

"What?" Leshia demanded when she had squeezed into the window seat with the girls.

"Owen likes you," Katie said triumphantly. Leshia rolled her eyes though and shoved the raven-haired girl.

"Yeah, as a friend! He just rescued me from beneath a cabinet." The two cousins wrinkled their brows and remained silent while Leshia explained all about the sinister feeling she encountered and then her untimely collision with the falling cabinet, to her deceitful excuse to McGonagall. By the time she was finished the girls had thoroughly forgotten about Owen's intentions and instead were worried that the mysterious presence that had been terrorising them had now turned hostile.

"But that's not all," Leshia said worriedly. "My dad, well he was in London today and whatever he was doing there must have been pretty secretive because he did _not_ want me to know. I don't know why, but I kind of got the idea it was something to do with my grandfather or Voldemort." This news on top of the news that dark risings were already evident in their very school, had Rachel and Katie thoroughly panicked and now, more so than ever before, their urge to start up their very own club to protect each other from the dark rising of Voldemort and his following was reaching fever pitch.

"It's time to draw up a final draft of everyone we're going to invite into the club," Katie told the others firmly and after glancing at her friends she jumped down from the window. The other two quickly followed until they'd reached their dormitory where they dropped down on Katie's bed, a regular meeting point as it lay between Leshia and Rachel's. Katie had drawn out a fresh piece of parchment and a quill before the other two had even got themselves comfortable.

"So, who've we got?" Katie asked as she started expertly penning Rodeo's name at the top of the list.

"Ease up," Leshia laughed. "What makes you think we want that boy in our club?" Both Katie and Rachel stared at Leshia with identically frowns. "Okay then, I guess we do want him in our club," the blonde girl said with wide eyes. Katie quickly followed Rodeo's name with Parys' as well as the girls they shared their dormitory with, before she sat back and looked up at her friends.

"Who next?"

"Well Luke, Tom, Sarah, and Amy obviously," Rachel remarked simply, naming her and Katie's older cousins within their house.

"Put Owen and his friends Paul and Dan," Leshia told Katie, and looked affronted when both cousins turn to star at her with conspiratorial grins. "Oh leave off, we need them, they're pretty strong and were really useful today." Katie grinned once more at Rachel, before she obliged and wrote down the boys' names.

"What about Michael?" Rachel wondered aloud.

"Yeah, well what about Emelia?" Katie retorted with a grin. The two girls considered having their younger siblings in the club.

"There's loads of you Weasleys in the younger years, why don't we start them off as initiates so that if they prove worthy then they can become full members like this lot?" Leshia suggested. Rachel and Katie seemed to like this idea and they scribbled down the names of all their younger siblings and cousins despite the houses they had been sorted into. Only Hermia, Rachel's younger sister who had been sorted into Slytherin the year before, was left off the list. Next on the 'maybe' list came the twins Jaime and Eliot Wood upon Leshia's request.

"I say we also add the Black twins," Katie mused aloud and while Rachel nodded to herself Leshia seemed aghast and she shook her head firmly.

"No way! There is absolutely no chance that any relation of that weasel is going to be in our club! I don't care how cute they are. It is _not_ happening!" With this the girls seemed to think they had enough names to be getting on with and next they addressed the issue of how they were going to let everyone in the club know when meetings were going to be held and how they were going to keep the secret of the club within its members.

"I don't know," Leshia groaned and she dropped back onto Katie's cushions. "We have to think smart here girls. We need something more than what my mum thought up. We need to stop them from spilling their guts about this secret that isn't even theirs to keep!" With a squeak that startled the living daylights out of Leshia and Rachel, Katie suddenly leapt from the bed and sprinted out the door leaving the other two staring at each other with wide eyes.

"Okay then," Rachel finally said very slowly.

"Hey don't look at me," Leshia laughed genially. "She's your relative."

"Come on Leesh," the redhead yawned before she rolled off the bed and onto the floor. "I challenge you to a game of Wizarding chess, of which the loser must complete the other's Divination homework for next Monday."

"You're on!"

An hour later, after Leshia had fought a fabulous campaign against Rachel and still lost meaning she had double the workload for their next Divination lesson, Katie reappeared looking so deliriously happy with herself that without having to be chided, Leshia and Rachel dashed back upstairs to their dormitory to hear what their raven-haired friend had to say for herself.

"Come on Katie, this had better be good," Leshia told the bespectacled girl as she dropped down on Katie's bed.

"Oh it's good," the dark girl boasted gleefully.

"Well spit it out!" Rachel complained.

"A while ago I came across this potion that when taken forbids you from spilling other people's secrets that they've told you. It only works on permanently fixed secrets such as the existence of a club, but it won't work on things like the locations of people, that's why secret keepers are made. It lasts about a month, but if we make people take it regularly then there's no danger." Leshia and Rachel grinned to one another at the self-appreciating grin on their friend's face.

"That's pathetic Katie," Leshia joked.

"Yeah, I mean we already knew about that spell ages ago," Rachel added while the grin dropped instantly from Katie's face.

"Oh you did?"

"No you idiot!" Leshia suddenly exploded happily. "That's amazing! You've found our solution you wonderful bookworm you!" Katie sighed with relief before she basked in the praise her friends started lavishing her with. Now they were so close to their goal, Rachel finally brought up the issue of Hermione's brilliant plan that they used for letting members of the DA know about when their meetings would be held.

"Seriously Leesh, we should just nick the idea, I mean it was brilliant," Rachel complained. "It would save us all this hassle."

"Okay fine!" Leshia suddenly exclaimed.

"What do you mean fine? Is that a yes?"

"Yes that's a yes."

"Oh Leesh!" Rachel exploded and she hugged the blonde girl. "Finally! We're where we want to finally move on. When can we tell them, when can we tell them?"

"Calm down Rach, we've got to make the potion first and I have to find out from my mum how to make those damn coins. She's not going to just hand over the information I need on a silver platter now is she?"

XXX

"So you just used a _varius_ charm on your coin after you'd already done a _connecto_ charm on the coins to make them linked?" Leshia asked with a furrowed brow once she had digested her mother's long story into an easy to remember sentence. The girl still couldn't quite believe how easy it had been to get the story out of her mother, who had spilled the dirt on how to carry out the deceivingly easy magic on how to make the trick work. Leshia had made sure that Draco was out of the room finishing some marking in his office that Sunday after dinner, before she posed her mother with the question of how she had so cleverly created the system. Blinded by the flattery and keen to show off her skills Hermione had quickly explained how it had all been done.

That night Leshia and her friends had pooled their galleons and gone to work on the simplistic spells straight away. By nightfall they had enough coded galleons for the full members of the club ready for distribution. Finding the ingredients for the _celoalius_ potion was proving incredibly difficult as the girls only had a handful of them in their own personal stock drawers. The possibility of breaking into Snape's stock cupboard had crossed their minds, but the girls were far too timid to try it in the end; they were skating on thin ice as it were anyway and decided they didn't need to give the cantankerous teacher a good reason to throw them out of school.

For days the girls thought hard about how they could possibly get the ingredients they needed until finally on the following Friday the answer came to them.

"If only I were _home_," Katie groaned as she rubbed her temples. "My parents have all these ingredients in our stock room, I'm sure of it!" For a moment Leshia and Rachel stared at the dark girl as the idea popped into their heads at the very same moment.

"Katie," Leshia said very slowly and very sensibly. "Are you telling me that all this time you've had the ingredients we need just sitting in your house?" Katie wrinkled her brow and then nodded.

"Well yeah…" the girl trailed off when she realised where her friends were heading with this. "Oh no! No way! Absolutely _not_! We are not going to sneak through that cabinet into my house and take those ingredients. There is absolutely _no way_!"

XXX

"I can't believe that I'm doing this."

"Shhhh Katie, do you want to get caught?" Leshia whispered hoarsely from under the invisibility cloak.

"Yeah, it's too late to turn back now!" Rachel added from behind both girls, bringing up the rear of their little train under the cloak.

"No I do not want to get caught, that is why I don't want to do this!" Katie cried out pathetically, feeling so hard done by that it had taken her friends only two days to wear her down to the point that she had agreed to do this harebrained scheme merely to shut them up. It was Sunday night at ten to midnight, so the chances of her parents being in bed were second to none, but still, these odds did nothing to sooth Katie's fears about being caught. Oh what trouble they would be in if they were discovered not only having knowledge of the transporting cabinet, but having used it too. Katie was sure they'd be banished to three separate corners of the earth.

"Stop shoving me Rachel," Leshia grumbled as they reached the door leading into the room of requirement. Pacing the corridor up and down had been a difficult task under the safety of the cloak, but it was of utmost importance as Mrs Norris had been past three times since they had snuck out; evidently the mangy cat could smell or sense something. Personally, Leshia blamed Rachel's feet, which she claimed must have been jinxed by Luke or Tom in some sort of practical joke to smell inhumanly awful. Needless to say, whenever the blonde girl began to speculate on her theory aloud, Rachel would jump on her and tickle her into tears of laughter.

"Just get inside will you?" Rachel grumbled, she hated being cooped up under the cloak, and they had a lot more snooping around to do under it before the night was through. The girls crept through the door and into the room of requirement as quickly as they could and there, in the shaft of moonlight, stood the cabinet they had been planning around all weekend.

"Right then, in we get," Leshia said cheerfully as she skipped to the doors and wrenched them open. She was the first one in, followed by an excitable Rachel, who was yet to use the cabinet. Katie was the last to climb in, and even though she had already said yes to this idiotic plan, she very much looked like she wanted to run away and hide under her bed until Leshia and Rachel had come to their senses again.

"Get in Katie," Rachel ordered amusedly. With the heaviest sigh she could manage the raven-haired girl complied, followed shortly by Rachel tugging the doors shut. The girls moved in absolute silence (lest Harry be in his study) while they rearranged themselves under the cloak. Once five minutes had gone by in anxious silence, Katie pushed the door minutely ajar and peered out into her father's dark study – evidently he and Ginny were upstairs curled up in bed. She patted Leshia's leg behind her to tell her the coast was clear, before Leshia passed the message onto Rachel by the same predefined signal. Katie led them out of the cupboard, making sure they remained painfully silent. As she knew the house far better than the other two she led them through it in the dark. The ticking of a clock was the only noise that penetrated the darkness while the three girls shuffled along as silently as they could.

The stock room lay beyond the kitchen and it was a long and painfully slow shuffle from the study. By the time the girls had reached it in the dark, half an hour had passed. Only once they were inside did Katie dare to turn a light on and now the girls started pillaging all the ingredients they needed. They worked in silence, sharing a list of everything they needed. To their merit, they were in fact very stealthy and within five more minutes they had completed their mission and had all the needed safely tucked away in their school bags.

Now their journey was even more hazardous with their bulging bags, and their movement had become so painfully slow that Leshia was sure she was standing still. Navigating their way out of the stock room was easy enough and soon they were traversing the kitchen once more.

Their rustling, no matter how silent they had sounded to human ears, had in actual fact come very much to the attention of Tinker, the family cat. Yawning and stretching the fat silver tabby jumped down from his perch atop the kitchen counters and trotted across the room to investigate the rustling that had driven him from his sleep. That was funny, there didn't seem to be anything there. How peculiar. Tinker let out a loud meow of annoyance, followed by an even louder cry of indignity. What was this tomfoolery that could be heard and not seen?

"Shhh," came the voice of a master that ought not be there. "Quiet Tinker!" Now even more disgruntled the tomcat let out a loud wail that caused the girls to freeze. Surely the cat had woken Ginny or Harry. Surely they were about to get caught?

"Katie do something," Leshia whispered sounding panicked.

"Tinker. Please. Be quiet!" Katie hissed, but the cat continued to get louder and louder until eventually he was silenced by a loud crash. Spinning around Leshia and Katie found Rachel looking more guilty than they had ever seen her.

"Rachel!" Leshia hissed when she noticed the redhead had accidentally knocked a vase off the countertop. In the girl's defence, it was not entirely her fault, as the two girls ahead of her in line under their magic cloak, had started backing away from the cat the moment it started meowing. They had in fact backed their redhead friend straight into the counter.

"We're done for," Katie gasped sounding horrified.

"Shhh!" Leshia hissed and the girls waited with baited breath, not daring to breath lest Harry and Ginny hear them from above. Ten minutes past, and nothing happened. Tinker by now had lost interest in the strange disembodied sounds believing himself either to be going mad or in need of a good long sleep, and so he had shuffled off.

"Come on, let's go," Katie suddenly ordered her friends when her parents showed no sign of coming downstairs to investigate the racket. It seemed a lucky escape was on the agenda for the girls. Their pace quickened once more and this time they were making quite good time. The study was just past the hall within their reach when suddenly two loud bangs filled the hall. The girls had to cover their mouths and bite their tongues to stop themselves from screaming as two figures suddenly materialised in the hallway.

Harry and Ginny were home.

"I tell you what Ginny," Harry was saying with a heavy sigh as he took of his coat and hung it up. "I'm getting tired of all these surprise meetings Draco keeps calling. Anyone would think he's scared."

"Oh I don't know Harry, that's just Draco isn't it?"

"Oh no no, Draco's not easily frightened, at least not obviously so, but something's happened; something that's got him all worked up. I wonder what it is."

"Maybe he's heard from Lucius again," Ginny suggested as she inspected a pulled thread on her coat. Very slowly, after getting over the shock of their sudden appearance Katie started to push the other two towards the study. Rachel soon cottoned on and both girls tried to drag Leshia away, but the blonde wasn't budging. With such a lack of communication going on between her parents and herself, she was going to glean as much information from this fortuitous situation as she could.

"I doubt it, if it was just Lucius then Draco wouldn't be worried. He knows what Lucius is capable of. This is…well I think this is something else."

"Well you know him better than any of us Harry," Ginny was telling her husband with a fond smile. "You're the one that's been so close to him all these years. I know how you've hated it." Beneath the cloak Leshia's face twitched with anger. Had being her father's friend truly been such a chore to Harry? Once more her friends tried to drag her away, but she was too strong for them to move without making a noise.

"I haven't hated that," Harry said sadly. "It was what I was made to do it that I've hated. Draco's an all right guy. I mean yeah, it's in his nature to be cruel. He's cruel with everyone, even Leshia and Hermione sometimes, but underneath all that, his heart is in the right place. It's just the fact that I was made to spy on him, when he didn't deserve the mistrust. Even now, after all these years! What did Molly and Arthur ask me to do just this evening?"

"Harry," Ginny sighed. "They're just being careful."

"No, they don't trust him! Still, after fifteen years! They asked me to keep my eye on him Ginny, your mum, and your dad too. Of course they wouldn't just come straight out and tell me to spy on him, but that's what they meant, it's as clear as day. They want me to spy on him again." Once more Leshia twitched in anger as her protectiveness for her father tangled up her emotions inside. Yes her father had been a traitor, but he wasn't anymore and he did _not_ deserve their mistrust!

"Draco's acting suspiciously Harry, everyone can see it," Ginny tried soothingly. "I mean yes, he's always been the twitchy kind, but this is different."

"You were just telling me I was reading too much into it," Harry chuckled. "And now all of a sudden everyone can see it? Come on Gin." Across the hall his wife grinned and shrugged.

"I'm trying to stick up for him Harry, I'm trying to convince myself that he's not a bad guy, but there's too many questions that lie unanswered. Too many doubts. Even Hermione sometimes wonders." A renewed tick in Leshia's neck started to pound as they brought her mother into the conversation. Katie and Rachel were now at desperate breaking point trying to drag their friend away.

"Hermione trusts Draco, she's the only one out of us that has always unconditionally trusted him, even when he disappeared and everyone thought he'd turned sides again."

"She was carrying his child…"

"That doesn't make a difference. I just don't want you thinking Hermione is with the rest of them on this, because she's with Dumbledore and I on this one. We're the only ones that truly trust him and I just resent having to turn tables and spy on him. What would Hermione do if she found out? She'd hate me."

"No she wouldn't, she's your friend…"

"But he's her husband. He's the father of her child…" Harry broke off and shut his eyes tightly as memories of the last few meetings came flooding back. "Leshia," he said softly and across the hall Leshia felt a stab of panic while her friends practically passed out from worry. Did Harry know they were there?

"I know," Ginny sighed with the same heartfelt emotion. "How they can suspect that poor girl is beyond me."

"That, if anything, should prove to you that most of them are clean off their rockers. To think that a thirteen-year-old girl is working for Voldemort is completely absurd." A splutter very nearly escaped Leshia's lips as she threw her hands against her mouth to stop herself from screaming. So _she_ was mistrusted as well as her father? How was it possible? "It's because he raised her isn't it?" Harry was continuing. "That little girl is completely mistrusted because her mother was taken away from her when she was only six years old and so she was raised by her father. They see the loyalty she has to him above and beyond that to Hermione and it makes them scared, it makes them wonder. Well it's bloody obvious isn't it?"

"Harry I know. I think it's terrible that…" Ginny trailed off as they both heard the strange sound from across the hall waft over to their ears. It sounded almost like panting.

Leshia had lost the ability to control the torrent of emotion that was wracking her chest with shudders. She had to let the emotion out somehow, and without her say so it was forcing her to pant loudly in pain. To think that everyone she had always loved felt of her as a threat…as a traitor…well, it was too much to bear.

"Oh no!" Ginny suddenly exclaimed and the girls froze. "That vase belonged to my grandmother!" With this the young woman strode straight past them and into the kitchen where the vase Rachel had broken lay shattered on the ground. Forgetting suddenly about the strange sound Harry rushed off to join his wife leaving the girls stunned and alone in the hall. Leshia finally allowed herself to be moved and as quickly as they could manage they made their way back to the study and back into the wardrobe. The girls waited inside with the doors pulled shut for five minutes, while Katie and Leshia eyed their blonde friend worriedly. Finally the time had passed and Leshia extricated herself from the cloak and rushed ahead of her friends out of the wardrobe and into the bare room of requirement.

"Leshia!" Rachel called after her.

"Just leave me alone!" a sob came in reply and the blonde girl ran from the room slamming the door behind herself. Not caring where she was going she followed her feet as they led her to her parents' chambers. She needed solidarity with her father, who alone, would know what it felt like to be mistrusted and outcast. The fact that it was nearly two in the morning and she was walking around without the aid of invisibility cloak did not occur to the girl, and so when the croak of someone hoarsely clearing their throat behind her sounded just seconds from her parents' door, Leshia spun around in surprise.

"Well Miss Malfoy, flouting the rules again I see," Snape sneered at the girl and took particular note of the tears that had streamed down her cheeks not so long ago.

"No," the girl countered furiously. "I need to see my dad."

"Rules are rules Miss Malfoy, and though you may need to see your precious daddy to make right whatever teenage drama you have got yourself into this time, they must be obeyed and you must stay in your dormitory. I'm sure he will still be there in the morning." Leshia stared angrily at the potions master.

"Well I'm not waiting for tomorrow. I need to see him now! So you can just give me detention and _leave_ me alone!" The tears had started falling anew, and yet nothing softened Snape's fury at the way she had spoken to him.

"Detention! And twenty points from Gryffindor. Tuesday after lessons, my office! Now back to your dormitory! Immediately." Leshia shook a little from her anger and frustration before she slowly started backing away from the potions master. She was very nearly at the portrait that would reveal her father and mother's door. "Not one more step…"

"You know," the girl cried pathetically. "You grown ups aren't the only ones around here with things on their minds!" Her cryptic message made Snape pause for a moment as Leshia quickly reached out and scratched the foot of the groom in the painting, which caused it to swing forward and reveal a door that she had never found locked.

"Not one more step…" But Leshia did take one more step, and another, and another, until she had slammed the door behind herself and rushed inside to the living room of her parents' chambers. As luck would have it Draco was still up, clutching at a glass of whiskey and staring into the fire with a dead expression. Hermione had long since gone to bed. As the door swung open Draco looked up in surprise, which instantly turned to immense concern when he saw the state his daughter was in.

"Leshia!" he gasped and he jumped to his feet, depositing his glass on the table. "What's happened?" He didn't get an answer; instead the girl ran to his side and hugged him firmly about his chest. He returned the girl's embrace while a fervent knocking sounded at the door. The young man navigated past the furniture with his young daughter still clinging to him so as he could open the door. Though when he saw the expression on Severus Snape's face when he did, he dearly wished he could have ignored it.

"What?" Draco asked suspiciously when he saw his friend, and despite himself he tightened his grip on his daughter.

"She should be in her dormitory, I told her, but as usual she _would not_ listen!" Snape hissed, glaring at the girl. Draco stared forcefully at the old man before he pushed Leshia off himself forcefully so as she would let go, though when he spoke, he was nothing but gentle,

"Go and sit down, I'll be back in a minute." Leshia obeyed her father and ran to the settee where she hugged one of the large cushions to herself so as she could bury her face in it. Draco stepped out into the corridor and shut the door behind himself, before he looked his old friend in the eye with narrowed eyes.

"Severus she's upset," Draco said darkly, warning screaming from every single one of his fine features.

"That doesn't matter! That's just an excuse for her to disrespect me again."

"She's not trying to disrespect you, she was just trying to see us."

"Well she shouldn't! No other pupil gets that privilege, so why should she? You should send her back!" Draco inhaled sharply and his gaze narrowed in anger.

"Severus my daughter is upset, I would not send her back now even if she wanted to go back."

"She will never learn, she will continue to flout authority…"

"You don't have children," Draco cut in angrily. "You have no idea do you, what it's like to have your crying child come to you with the belief that you're the only one who can protect them and understand them. She needs me Severus, and if you ever try and stop her when she needs me again, then I swear to you I will make you regret it!" Snape shook from head to toe with anger, but he knew that Draco was not to be trifled with. Once upon a time he may have been a snivelling youngster all talk and no action, but those days were long gone, and here before him stood one of the most dangerous men alive living free from Azkaban.

"You remind her she has detention," Snape hissed sharply, before he turned around and stormed off, Leshia's cryptic message going round and round in his head. As soon as he had left Draco opened the door again and rushed inside, dropping down beside his daughter and stroking her soft hair worriedly.

"What happened?"

"I hate them," came the muffled sob.

"Who?"

"All of them. What did I ever do wrong? I don't understand. I never…" The rest of the girl's sentence was inaudible as the sobs took control of her voice.

"Leshia tell me who's hurt you and I'll make it right again," Draco tried, feeling such immense pain at seeing his daughter suffer so and having no power to make it better for her.

"You can't." With this the girl looked up pathetically. "I just…you…" She trailed off and sniffed, trying to stave the tears that she was sure she would feel so humiliated for tomorrow. Draco sighed heavily and pulled the girl into the crook of his arm, squeezing her small shoulders tightly.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked sadly. After a few moments the girl shook her head.

"I don't think so. I just wanted to see you, and then Snape…"

"I know. I talked to him. He's never going to do that again, I promise."

"Dad why are we friends with the Weasleys and the Potters?" Draco frowned, where had this question come from? Was it because she and her friends had fallen out?

"We just are. You can't choose your friends Leshia."

"We're just so unlike them," Leshia said bitterly. Draco frowned and stroked the top of her daughter's hair down with his cheek so he could lean against it.

"Don't say that," he said softly.

"Why?"

"Because that's like saying we're not like your mother."

"Sometimes I don't think we are," the girl whispered barely audibly. Draco frowned heavily and pulled away to look her in the eye.

"What?" he asked in disbelief. Leshia looked him in the eye, immense concern filling her pretty face.

"She's so good dad," she whispered. "And we're just…not." Draco frowned even more heavily. He knew very well what his past indiscretions were, and there was no way he would attest to being 'good', but what had his precious little girl done that had her thinking she wasn't a good person.

"Leesh what do you think you've done that is so bad?" he asked worriedly. For a moment Leshia's lip trembled, before she looked into the fire and assumed a hard look that would not look out of place on her father's face; in this moment, the likeness between the pair of them was so great it would have caused her father to shudder were he of a more theatrical disposition.

"I just know…I know I'm not a good person inside."

XXXXXXXXX

So, sorry it's been a while, but hey, I've been sooooooo busy as I'm sure you all have. Anyway, not as long as previous chapters, but this seemed like a good stopping point, plus it's like nearly 4 in the morning and tomorrow I gotta get up and go drive around everywhere

Anyway, if this story still has fans (Kas, Bets, you there:D ) then yay and thank you so much for your support. Thank you so much for the reviews, they keep me writing. Anyways, much love and all that, cheerio! ;)


	5. Part Five

**Generations: the Blue Lions**

**Part V**

The following day Leshia seemed back to her old self and Draco felt very relieved as she rushed off to breakfast. The way she had spoken the night before was terrifying, as she had voiced the feelings he believed of himself. His daughter was turning into him, and he worried so very much for her future. He hadn't told Hermione the full extent of the story; merely that Leshia had been upset after what he presumed was a fight with her friends. Hermione seemed slightly distracted anyway and didn't notice that Draco was hiding things from her. Hermione had been slightly distracted a lot lately.

Over breakfast Katie and Rachel felt incredibly awkward around their best friend. They had discussed what Harry and Ginny had talked about and both couldn't even begin to imagine the pain Leshia must be feeling at knowing she was so mistrusted by the grown ups she had always considered family. They didn't believe it for one second of course, and they wished they could tell Leshia this, but that would involve bringing it up, which they were loathe to do.

"We have to arrange this meeting thing for Wednesday okay?" Leshia told the girls as they walked over to their Charms lesson for the first period.

"Okay," the girls agreed, not daring to disagree.

"We should have it in an unused classroom until we know if they want to get in on it or not, because otherwise we'll show them the secret room."

"True," Rachel said simply, while Katie nodded. Leshia stared at her friends firmly before she clicked her fingers in front of them quite suddenly.

"Guys," she laughed. "Stop it. I'm still me okay? Regardless of what happened last night, I'm still the same old me. So can you stop walking around on eggshells and talk to me already? Please! This is driving me bananas."

"You're right, I'm sorry," Katie said with a pained look. "I just can't believe that…"

"Hey," Leshia laughed and she shook her head. "I said I was fine, that doesn't mean that I want to have a good old natter about the fact that your parents think I'm working for Voldemort."

"My dad doesn't," Katie piped up while Rachel glared at the raven-haired girl playfully.

"Oh give over Katie," she chuckled, before looking back to Leshia with concern in her pretty face. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Never better," the short girl replied with a beaming smile. Of course this was all a lie, and beneath her cheerful bravado her feelings lay in tatters, but never would Leshia Malfoy admit to being defeated by her emotions, so she kept them bottled up. "Let them think what they want." A frown adorned the girl's face, and while Katie and Rachel watched her with wounded expressions, Leshia suddenly darted from their side to the quidditch notice board, where several youngsters were scrambling to see the message that had been left by Madam Hooch that very morning. Being rather on the short side Leshia was having tremendous difficulty looking over the shoulders of her fellow peers. Directly in front of her Nick and Will Mills, seventh year Slytherin twins, who made up the muscle in the form of beaters on the aggressive team, seemed to be having a great time blocking the tiny Gryffindor seeker from seeing the announcement. Feeling incredibly put out, Leshia was about to do something stupid, when all of a sudden she was rescued from behind the tall beaters by her captain.

"Malfoy, what are you doing hiding behind these two oafs?" Mila Evanovitch, the newly appointed captain of the Gryffindor side, called out cheerfully, and within moments Leshia had been swept away right to the front of the hoard of pupils in full view of the announcement. Leshia glanced over her shoulders to see the two hulking Mills twins glaring furiously at the pair of them.

"Mila I don't think they liked being called oafs," the girl said softly as she glanced up at her beautiful companion. The young woman snorted cheerfully though and stuck her tongue out at the boys.

"Don't be silly, everyone knows they're harmless. That family is all muscle and no brains, they'll have forgotten about me by the time they've finished their full English breakfasts," she chuckled, but Leshia didn't seem so sure. The last thing she needed was to build more enemies in Slytherin, and the Mills were an incredibly large family, all of them in the same house. "Now then, what've we got here? Tryouts this Saturday at noon Malfoy, try and stay out of trouble will you?" Leshia grinned.

"I can't make any promises," came her cheerful response, before she rushed to join her friends by the doors into the great hall.

"What's all that about?" Katie asked curiously.

"Tryouts start this Saturday," Leshia explained with a shiver of excitement. As of yet, she had managed to show off her talents quite well, but the stage was getting too small for her, and she could only imagine what it would be like to play in an international tournament. "Anyway, so as I was saying before, we need to get this meeting sorted. How are we going to tell people? And have you started brewing the potion yet?"

"Not yet," Katie replied. "The instructions say to make it on the day of consumption. Apparently if you make it more than twenty-four hours before you take it it can go disastrously wrong and the taker will start spewing secrets out left right and centre!"

"Hmmm, that's a pretty picture," Rachel murmured with a big grin, just as she sat down in front of the delicious as always breakfast stuffs that littered the table.

"Let's just tell them face to face," Katie suggested. "You know, a whisper in the ear here or there, we'll decide beforehand who gets who."

"Sounds simple enough, but before either of you say otherwise, I shotgun Rodes and Parys. That'll stop you tearing each other apart for them." Leshia and Katie gave Rachel two most snobbish expressions.

"We wouldn't dream of doing that."

"Yeah, talk about loser Rach," Leshia teased cheerfully. The girls stayed in good spirits all day as they enjoyed a most successful day of lessons. Their last lesson of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts, was the most trying as the children were expected to give impromptu presentations on a topic of Draco's choosing. Leshia and Rachel partnered up together and managed to create pandemonium as they got each other laughing and couldn't stop, while somehow managed to get a few random facts in about Red Cap social systems. Draco deducted five points from Gryffindor for their mucking about, but even he found it hard to resist his laughter when the two girls started acting out a typical Red Cap home life scenario. Leshia and Rachel were unforgettable in their respective roles of the bossy violent Red Cap wife and the whimpering cowardly Red Cap husband. Safe to say Draco quickly put an end to their ridiculous presentation, but as they were given leave to return to their seats most of the class burst into applause and the two girls bowed gleefully for their peers.

Finally when the last bell of the day rang out loud and clear and the children were given leave to dart from the classroom, the girls set their plan into motion by sidling over to their designated possible gang members and quietly whispering in their ears the time, date and location. Leshia's last contingent of pupils were Owen Gabriel and his friends Dan and Paul. By evening when most of the Gryffindors had started slinking off to bed yawning and complaining about the oodles of homework they'd been struck with by their uncaring teachers, Leshia realised she was finally going to have to approach the three fourth year boys. She'd been reluctant to approach all evening as the three young men were currently entertaining the fifth year girls, who were adoring the attention the three friends were lavishing on them. Knowing she would be intruding on a very private conversation Leshia would have gladly put it off entirely and forget about asking Owen to be in the club, but Rachel and Katie were glaring at her mockingly, wondering if their friend was going to wimp out.

'I'm not a wuss,' Leshia thought to herself grimly, and after a pointed glare at her friends she pushed herself from the window box they all sat squeezed into and wandered across the common room to the sofa the older Gryffindors had commandeered. Upon Leshia's approach Owen stopped entertaining one of the fifth year girls known as Jocelyn Jones (the queen bee of the pack) to stare curiously at the approaching youngster.

"Hi," he interrupted his friend Dan's joke to call to Leshia when she got near.

"Hi," she replied falsely, trying to ignore the mocking stares she was receiving from the fifth years. "Um…can I have a word with you guys, just quickly…in um…private?"

"Sure," Owen offered, looking to the girls that lay draped around them charmingly. "Excuse us ladies." With this the star keeper climbed to his feet, his friends following him less enthusiastically. "What's up shorty?"

"Wednesday," Leshia told the boys. "Ground floor, class eight, five-o clock." They frowned at one another.

"You what?" Paul finally laughed. "What are you on about?"

"Just be there, you'll see why." With this the girl darted from their side and ran straight up the spiral stairs to the third year girls' dormitory, where she buried herself under the mountain of pillows at the end of her bed. After the sound of scampering feet Rachel and Katie burst into the room in giggles and dropped down around their ringleader. Leshia remained in her state of mortification for the entire remainder of the evening, much to the amusement of her less than sympathetic friends.

XXX

Wednesday arrived (after a very traumatic Tuesday in which Snape was vile to Leshia in her detention) and all throughout the day Leshia, Katie and Rachel ignored the probing looks of the pupils they had notified of the meeting. They had to act as though nothing was going on, they had to act under a cover of obliviousness so as not to alert any untoward characters, mainly Allseyer and his cronies, to their plans. The sound of twenty-three chattering youngsters filled the hall as Leshia and her friends rounded the corner at five-o clock, heading for the disused classroom in the quiet wing of the school.

"They're eager," Rachel exclaimed in surprise.

"They're probably expecting a party," Leshia replied amusedly, knowing their reputation as ultimate party throwers was now well known throughout the school. Her estimation of her peers' expectation was not mistaken and as the girls walked in every single person they had invited (all without fail in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw) looked up hopefully.

"Hi," Leshia told them firmly.

"What's all this about?" Luke piped up from somewhere near the back.

"Yeah, where's the entertainment?" his cousin demanded playfully. "We were promised action." Leshia spun around and looked curiously to Rachel, who had been given the task of inviting her cousins.

"I might have embellished a little," the redhead said while her eyes roved the ceiling innocently. Leshia frowned at the girl with a small grin, before she turned back on the crowd of youngsters.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but there's no entertainment," she explained. "We're actually here to talk about something serious."

"Serious?" Parys piped up from somewhere in the middle of the crowd. "What a gip, Rach you promised us butterbeer and cake!" A murmur went up signifying everyone's displeasure at being dragged out to this unused classroom where there weren't even any refreshments.

"Look, if you'll all just listen…" Leshia tried over the rabble, but she was not heeded. "Hey! Guys!" Still no one heeded her and there seemed to be a general movement towards the door as people decided that if there wasn't a secret underground party taking place then they didn't want to waste their time with any serious business. Leshia knew she had to act. "Voldemort's coming back!"

Complete silence rang through the air, replacing the disgruntled murmurs so completely that for a moment Leshia had to adjust to the sudden quiet. There was no need, as within moments the murmurs were back, only in alarm and anger and far louder than before. Leshia couldn't control them.

"I'll explain," she tried over the sound. "Just let me…"

"Shut up!" Everyone turned around and stared at Owen Gabriel, who had climbed onto a table near the back of the room and had bellowed over his peers to silence them. "Listen to what she has to say." Leshia smiled briefly at the boy in thanks while all eyes turned back on her.

"I know it's scary and I bet you're all thinking I'm totally losing it, but I'm completely serious. I promise you. As much as we want to pretend it could never happen, we all knew that someday Voldemort was going to come back, and even though everyone thought it would be donkeys years, I'm sorry to say that it's going to happen sooner rather than later."

"How the hell do _you_ know?" Owen's friend Paul demanded sounding most bemused. Leshia hung her head and felt incredibly wicked with what she was about to reveal, but she had no choice.

"My grandfather, Lucius Malfoy, who was believed to be dead is in actual fact very much alive." Most of the children stared at her blankly, having had no education in the dark side of Magic and not knowing that the name Lucius Malfoy ought to mean terrible things. "I don't know how many of you guys know about my family's history, but the Malfoys always have been very predominant figures in the world of dark magic. My grandfather Lucius Malfoy became one of Voldemort's closest allies and him being alive is pretty bad for everyone who wants Voldemort to not come back for a while." A ripple of worry ripped through the gathered children who suddenly burst out into worried chatter.

"Be quiet! She's not done yet!" Rachel complained, getting tired of the mob-mentality their 'chosen ones' were adopting. Reluctantly, the youngsters resumed their silence once more and looked to the small blonde girl stood at the front of the classroom.

"There's more," Leshia sighed. "And I know for a fact that most of you will know what I'm talking about when I say that there's a presence at school this year that wasn't there before. A dark presence." Silence, and whereas before the silence had adopted an air of contempt, this one seemed to smack of understanding. Yes, the majority of the gathered pupils completely understood what the blonde girl was saying.

"Well that's all well and good, but why are we here?" Sarah Weasley, another Weasley cousin in fourth year asked eventually.

"Uh, well," Leshia began and she rubbed the back of her neck agitatedly. How could she put this without sounding like a childish Wally? "We want to start a club." As she had suspected, the class suddenly rang out with the mocking laughter of most of the youngsters. Leshia rolled her eyes in frustration, but couldn't slight them for it; she too would have reacted in such a way after all.

"More of a gang actually," Rachel tried loudly, but this just elicited more laughter.

"Look whatever we call it the principle remains the same," Leshia complained angrily. The class fell silent and as one everyone stared at Leshia with renewed reverence as though professor Malfoy himself had just materialised in front of them. How the small blonde girl had so mimicked her father they couldn't understand, but whatever silliness she had been talking about, they at least had to grant her the respect of listening. "We want to form a network of trustworthy people who will watch each other's backs and report any strange goings on that might shed light on what this presence is. We all know the Slytherins are a pack of rats in disguise and if ever there were a chance for us to find out about Voldemort's movements then this is it. We have to watch them, listen to them, read them. If he's coming back then they're the ones that'll warn us, even if that's the last thing they want. We have to band together on this, because the one thing history has taught us is that those who fight Voldemort alone die alone." The girl fell silent, her chest heaving and falling with the emotion she had just expressed in her speech. The silence dragged out while Leshia looked from one face to the next, trying to gauge what the general reaction to her words was going to be.

Finally the painful hush was broken by a very slow applause. Leshia looked through the crowds to see that the clapper was none other than Owen Gabriel, who after barely a few claps of his hands was joined by several others. Before Leshia had any idea of what was going on the whole room was filled with the sounds of a moved audience and when the girls rolled out the parchment that would sign them away to a fate of secret activity, the youngsters scrambled to sign it, even if it did mean taking that disgusting looking (and smelling) potion.

Later that night the girls revelled in their success with their newly founded Blue Lions, and even though the afternoon's meeting had been a resounding success and one to be proud of, Leshia couldn't help but feel victorious in her own private triumph when Owen Gabriel had approached her at the end of the meeting and thanked her earnestly for including him in her design. His kind words made her feel uplifted as though she had taken a Heaven Drop, the sweets so miraculous they made you flutter out of your seat; but for the life of her, the young girl could not figure out why.

XXX

The week passed by in a haze of homework and dull lessons, but finally the weekend arrive and with it, the ISQT tryouts. The school had been awash with enthused hopefuls blabbering on about their prospective chances in the tryouts all week. Leshia had avoided such conversations fearing the reprove of her peers who considered her a shoe-in, when she herself doubted her chances of success. How could she talk about her fears of not making it with people who already thought of her as a member of the Hogwarts team? Even Katie and Rachel didn't pander to Leshia's fears, instead telling her the ill-wanted reassurance of, "You'll be fine." Neither girl was trying out (when it seemed most of the school were) and so they woke that Saturday morning feeling most refreshed and excited about the day, when their blonde friend, who had lay tossing and turning all night, woke looking like thunder, entirely unwilling to even mention the word quidditch.

Over breakfast the hall reverberated with the excitement of all the hopefuls and every corner of every table rang with the word 'quidditch'. It was enough to make Leshia sick, who sprinted for the toilets shortly afterwards. Her friends could not figure out why their ringleader, who had the other day oozed confidence and strength in their first meeting with the Lions now paled under a pressure she was much more capable of delivering under, now seemed a quivering wreck.

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Rachel grumbled to Katie as they waited outside the bathroom with matching frowns.

"I know, everything we've said she's taken the wrong way," the raven-haired girl added. "I mean who is she kidding? Of course she's going to get onto the team. What does she think? That the population of Hogwarts have suddenly changed into star seekers over night?" Rachel sniggered at the thought, but soon fell silent when a tall figure appeared beside them so suddenly if she didn't know better then she would have thought he had apparated.

"Professor Malfoy," Katie exclaimed in surprise while Rachel coughed away the choke that had caught in her throat when the tall Defence Against the Dark Arts professor had appeared at her side.

"Morning girls," Draco remarked amusedly. "Where's that short friend of yours?"

"In there," Rachel replied, having regained her vocal chords, before jerking her thumb over her shoulder toward the bathroom. Draco looked up at the door.

"She's being sick," Katie added.

"Why?" the confused father now asked.

"She's worried sir, she thinks she's not good enough for the team."

"Oh." Silence while Draco thought. "Anyone else in there?" The girls shook their heads and so quite without warning Draco pushed the door open to the bathrooms and walked in.

"I'm not coming out and you can't make me."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"Dad? What are you doing here? This is a _girls_ bathroom!"

"Your point?"

"Well the last time I checked you weren't a girl." Finally having pinpointed the location of his daughter's voice Draco held his wand up to the door and uttered a silent incantation causing the door to swing open revealing a very pale Leshia sat in her quidditch robes beside the toilet she had just spent the last half and hour getting better acquainted with.

"I'm glad you noticed," the father remarked amusedly.

"Get out," the girl groaned and she dropped her head into her arms, which were currently resting on her knees.

"Well I would, as you've chosen a rather disgusting place to hide out in, but what sort of a father would I be if I left you here to wallow so disgustingly in your own self-pity?"

"A much appreciated one." Draco grinned and after contemplating the grimy floor thought better of sitting down beside his teenaged daughter, instead opting to crouch by her side.

"You're being silly," he told her fondly.

"Well so what if I am? There's no law against being silly, I'm not breaking any school rules, so why should it matter?"

"Because I think it _would_ be a crime if Hogwarts fronted a school quidditch team and you weren't on it." His frankness made Leshia look up at him once more and for a moment a glimmer of confidence stirred in her heart. "You're good Leesh. I know it. Your mother knows it. Your friends out there in the corridor know it. Hell, the whole school knows it. And deep down, I think you know it too."

"Before," Leshia began stiltedly. Her eyes dropping without focus to the wall somewhere behind her father's shoulders. "When I tried out for the team and when I played in games…well it didn't matter if I was good. No one was expecting anything of me. All I had to do was surprise them and play well, but now…"

"Everyone expects you to be the best."

"Yes, and I don't know if I can be what they want me to be."

"So you're afraid of the pressure," Draco concluded brusquely, feeling a little disappointed in the girl he thought he'd raised to be fearless. Leshia's eyes snapped onto his.

"I'm not afraid," she said firmly.

"Really? So this is you being brave is it? This is just standard game preparation I suppose, skulking away in a toilet somewhere clinging onto it for dear life."

"Dad…"

"Leshia this isn't you! The girl who defies every school rule and every rule her father ever laid down for her whenever she wants with not a care for the consequences. Where is that girl? What have you done with her?" Leshia fell silent and hung her head, her father's words of wisdom snaking cracks through her cowardice.

"I'm not afraid," she repeated firmly.

"So prove it, get out there and do what it is you do best: not giving a toss about what everyone else thinks." Suddenly empowered by her father's pep talk Leshia jumped to her feet.

"Dad get off the ground, this _is_ a toilet you know," she told her father cockily before she waltzed from the bathrooms her head held high. By the time a highly amused Draco had reached the corridor the girls were nowhere to be seen, leaving the father with a sense of such wellbeing that he had to go and find a pupil to punish to reinstate his usual feeling of complete and utter tyranny.

XXX

What a day! Queues, waiting, more queues and yet more waiting filled the morning as all the hundreds of hopefuls had their goes through the series of trials Madam Hooch had devised for the Hogwarts Squad in alphabetical order. By the time Leshia reached the testing ground she was so bored out of her mind. Surrounded by two sets of siblings, the Lloyd brothers and the Managan brother and sister, who had nothing interesting to say, Leshia was very much desperate for some decent conversation. None of her friends, or even any peers in her year group that could possibly do for a decent (normal) conversation stood near her and the young woman spent most of her time spying far down the line to where Owen Gabriel stood chatting to his older sister Sienna and rather annoyingly, two of the beautiful Frances-Taylor sisters Katie and Charlotte, both around Owen's age though not in Gryffindor. It didn't seem terribly fair that Owen should be inundated with beautiful ladies and Leshia should have to put up with the snivelling Lloyd brothers.

When Owen took to the sky Leshia felt momentary delight as she watched him excel enormously. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that the young man had made it through to the next round (and indeed, the team). Following his spectacle Leshia was rather surprised that the tall girl she had recently found out was his sister did almost equally as well in her role as chaser. Why wasn't this girl on the team? Leshia continued to ponder the seventh-year's absence from their roster when suddenly she was surprised to see a familiar person aboard the school broom that she was not accustomed to seeing as such.

"Rodeo?" she exclaimed in surprise and sure enough the boy she had always known to be a muggle-sport enthusiast (particularly of that dreadful football game) was now swooping about on the broom almost as though he had been doing it all his life. Amazed by his capabilities at the wizarding game Leshia found herself speechless. Since when had the muggle-born boy taken to the sport and moreover, why had he never told her? Quite put out that she had been kept in the dark over this matter Leshia waited the rest of her time in the queue in an angry reverie, which served her nicely when it was her turn to shine.

Conversations stopped across the pitch when the young seeker took to her broom and everyone watched in appreciation as the girl revealed her superior flying skills. Within no time they could get back to their banter however, as within record time the young girl caught the dummy snitch and secure her place in the next round. After dodging the phoney praise of less successful hopefuls Leshia finally managed to fight her way over to where her best friends were waiting with a triumphant Rodeo, who had just found out would almost certainly make it through to the next stage.

"You didn't tell me you could fly," Leshia accused the boy before her friends had even been given the chance to greet her and congratulate her.

"You never asked," Rodeo countered, seemingly dreadfully pleased that he had ruffled Leshia's feathers. The girl furrowed her brow heavily.

"Should I have? I mean you don't ask me every day whether I've suddenly taken up football."

"Well have you?" Rodeo laughed.

"No, but that's not the point is it? You should have told me you were good at this."

"Why?"

"I thought we were friends."

"We are."

"You don't act like it." An unpleasant silence filled the air as Leshia looked away from the hurt boy to her feet. She didn't speak another word all evening.

XXX

Draco lounged back in his chair at the dinner table, feeling a stupid sense of smug glee at seeing his daughter outperform all the other seeker-hopefuls. He often liked to vicariously feel pride at her achievements and now was no different. Though he did notice that Leshia was decidedly out of sorts and sitting in silence at the Gryffindor table, he didn't allow it to ruin his good mood, correctly guessing that it was yet another teenage drama that had taken control of her senses. He was having trouble keeping up with the number she seemed to be having at the moment.

Later that evening he regretted his feelings of joy and bliss as surely they had tempted fate and the letter he was about to receive. Without so much as a flash or a bang suddenly a parchment had appeared beside Draco's plate as though it had belonged there the whole meal. Knowing that this had not been the case and feeling the dread creeping over him, Draco reached for the parchment and pocketed it. There were too many eyes to see what it might contain.

Getting away from Hermione, who alone stayed with him all night, was not difficult as soon after dinner she retired for the night. The fact that she had been enjoying several early nights recently didn't bother Draco as it normally did and instead he ripped the parchment from his trouser pocket and opened it up:

_The day of reckoning is nearly upon you traitor. Your days of hiding are over. Run run, do try, but you cannot hide. The truth will out, and you with it. Traitor_

Closing his eyes to drown out the red spots that had started swimming before them, Draco leaned back in the sofa and clutched the parchment close to his chest. His past was catching up with him, his evils that had thus gone unnoticed were finally overtaking him. What could he do?

XXX

There was a general buzz of excitement as the girls descended from their common room the following Tuesday and it seemed to be congregating in the entrance hall, more specifically around the quidditch board. Leshia felt a momentary stab of worry when she wondered whether she had made it through to the next stage, but quite predictably her worry was unfounded, which she soon found out when she glanced at the board and found her name second on the list of those through to the next trial, directly under Owen Gabriel's name.

"Look at that, Allseyer's through to the next round," Rachel remarked glumly.

"Pity," Leshia added coldly.

"Rodes," Katie suddenly laughed delightedly. "Look he made it too." Her happiness was short lived as Leshia suddenly disappeared from her side, waltzing off to the great hall leaving Rachel glaring at Katie.

"She's just this morning got back to normal over the whole Rodeo thing and you had to go blow it all up again. I thought you were little-miss-tactful?"

"Oh give it a rest Rach, it's not like he's done anything wrong. She's just being oversensitive to nothing."

"Oh really?" Rachel countered bemusedly. "I bet you knew didn't you?" Katie went bright red and looked away from her fiery cousin. "He told you all about it didn't he? So how would you have felt if he left you out of the loop? Moreover," Rachel continued, not letting Katie get a word in edgeways. "What if it was something you loved and were really good at and could have shared with him?" Katie stayed silent. "No I didn't think so." With this the redhead turned on heal and followed in the direction Leshia had led, leaving Katie feeling quite rotten about herself, and yet also frustrated with her cousin and friend.

At Gryffindor table Leshia sat beside Parys, who told her Rodeo had already been and gone for breakfast far earlier than the rest as he had a detention with Filch to satisfy before lessons. It had seemed like an age since the pair of good friends had caught up and by the time Rachel reached them they were laughing joyously about their plans for the up and coming Hogsmeade visit at the weekend. Rachel left them to it, feeling quite uneasy though she couldn't explain why. Her interest peaked however, when Parys tried his clumsy hand at some diplomacy.

"You know he was trying to surprise you," the boy said quietly after a small comfortable pause. Leshia snapped her eyes up to her friend's eyes and shook her head.

"Don't Parys. I'm already upset with him, don't make me hate you as well."

"Come on Leesh, you don't hate him."

"I'm starting too." Parys paused, Leshia seemed so sincere.

"He wanted you to be proud of him."

"No he didn't. You know as well as I do that when he saw how shocked I was he was pleased. He was happy he made me feel bad." Parys fell silent; he couldn't argue her on this one, because he himself had been shocked at Rodeo's smugness over the weekend. His friend had a very poor way of showing how much he cared for the girl sat beside him now.

"Look I can't defend him for what he did on Saturday," Parys tried, changing tack. "But I do know he really likes you. Leesh we've all been friends for years, don't ruin it by being so stubborn."

"You're lucky I like you," Leshia complained with a small grin and with this their conversation was over, making way fro Rachel to join in and keep them in fits of laughter when gave a commentary of some of the dreadful hopefuls that had been excluded from the list.

For the remainder of breakfast and indeed the first few lessons of the day, the youngsters remained in good spirits and as the five of them all met up for transfiguration it was almost like old times; where harmless fun had featured predominantly in their social order. The good will was all about to end however, when after break the friends trudged down to the dungeons for their potions lesson. Professor Snape was in a foul mood and he enjoyed nothing more than taking out his anger on Gryffindors in such situations. Now seeing as Katie Potter, Rachel Weasley and especially Leshia Malfoy were three of his most disliked pupils they really didn't stand a chance.

"Tuck in that shirt Malfoy!" Snape barked as he stormed into the classroom ahead of the class.

"But it is tucked in sir," Leshia complained when she checked her loosely tucked in shirt.

"Five points from Gryffindor. Now do as you're told." Mouth wide open in shock at the unfairness of the situation Leshia looked like she wanted to complain, but Rachel soon poked her in the side and shook her head firmly, warning her not to aggravate the horrid teacher further. Snape had been near unbearable since Leshia had flouted his authority outside her parents' chambers and now he was in a bad mood, there was a slight possibility that he would do as he had been threatening to do for a very long time and curse Leshia into oblivion.

"Do you want to get cursed?" Rachel whispered to the girl firmly.

"Miss Weasley, be silent or you _will _be joining me after class." This served as warning enough and Rachel fell instantly silent. "Your essays," the potions master continued, lifting a pile of parchments, which looked as though some crazed graffiti artist had been set loose on them with a red quill. "Were, without a doubt, the worst I have ever read." Furiously he flung them into the air from where they sped back to their rightful owners. The pupils had to remain on guard lest they find themselves at the mercy of the vicious parchments seemingly dead set on releasing a storm of paper cuts on the youngsters. Leshia snapped hers out from the air before it had the chance to launch at her face and instantly felt her blood boil at the D. She was entirely sure her mark was undeserved.

"Calm down," Katie warned, but the E gleaming from her paper, when Leshia had had to help her bespectacled friend on several occasions, made the girl feel even more furious.

"Professor?" she suddenly exclaimed while at her sides Rachel and Katie turned to star at her in horror, shaking their heads in a painfully slow motion, trying to stop the train wreck that was Leshia on the warpath colliding with Snape in a foul mood from happening.

"What is it?" Snape hissed so dangerously that several of the other girls shuddered in fear.

"I don't agree with this mark," the bold girl replied, lifting her homework and showing off the only D she had ever received in her life to the stunned class. Had Leshia entirely lost the plot? At the front of the classroom the aged Potions master was staring ahead with such narrowed eyes that they became invisible to the class. Leshia was not perturbed, believing herself to be entirely in the right.

"You don't?" the old man finally whispered, his whole body shaking with reprove.

"No."

"So what do you propose?"

"Well, maybe you could look at it again?" Silence fell over the gloomy dungeon as the air around Severus Snape veritably shimmered. His bad mood, which was on account of this girl's father, controlled his actions and without so much as a word he stalked across the dungeon, taking the girl's essay in his hand and pointing his wand at it with his other. Magically the D turned into an T.

"Do not question me again Malfoy," the professor sneered at the girl, his face a picture of hatred. "Five points from Gryffindor." Think their friend had got off lightly Katie and Rachel sighed with relief and moved to take their textbooks from their bags, but Leshia was staring at her paper with narrowed eyes, deep in thought. For five minutes she stayed in silence, unmoving, not participating in the lesson, until finally she took matters into her own hands and without so much as a word to Snape she got to her feet and lifted her bag from the desk.

"Miss Malfoy," Snape exclaimed in fury. "One more step and you'll wish you'd never been born." But Leshia did take one more step and another, and another until she'd reached the door to the dungeon, where she turned around.

"Try me," she dared the spitting with fury potions master.

"You're as bad as that father of yours. Walking all over me as though I mean nothing, when I'm trying to save _his_ neck. After everything I've done for your family I deserve _respect_!" Leshia paused half out the door, slowly returning back into the classroom to stare in surprise at the teacher. Where had that outburst come from? What had her father got himself into now?

"What do…" the girl began, but anything further she didn't find out as suddenly Snape lurched from the room through to his office, slamming the door behind himself. Slowly, everyone in the class turned around to stare at the girl, the Slytherins donning gleeful smirks.

"Oh you're in trouble now blood-traitor," Allseyer sniggered. "I'd go pack my bags if I were you, there's no chance he's going to let you stick around any longer."

"Shut up Allseyer," Rachel snapped impatiently. "Leesh, just come and sit down…"

"Get out!" Everyone jumped as the surprisingly loud, yet muffled bellow came from the office adjoining their dungeon classroom. "All of you!" Suppressing their cheers of glee the children all got to their feet and rushed cheerfully past Leshia, who alone remained in the doorway, still wondering what on earth Snape had meant.

"I have to speak to him," she finally concluded when the last of the class, Julius Black, had glided past Leshia giving her a stern enigmatic look as he did. Leshia completely ignored him, she didn't have time for his games now.

"You'd be a fool if you did," the boy offered, who had only taken a step or two up the corridor.

"And what would you know of it?" Leshia snapped back tetchily, weary that perhaps Allseyer was right on this one, maybe she'd taken it a step too far. Julius turned around slowly, his wise eyes narrowed a little in derision.

"Malfoy, other than the fact that you just caused him to completely embarrass himself in his own lesson," the Slytherin boy began condescendingly. "What makes you think he'd want to see you even if you'd had nothing to do with it? The pair of you aren't exactly best friends are you?"

"He's right Leesh, you should go and tell your parents what happened, maybe they can help," Rachel tried, but Leshia was shaking her head firmly.

"Firstly," she began, wheeling on the dark haired boy. "Sod off, this has got nothing to do with you. And secondly." The girl turned back on the classroom with a worried frown and then added in a soft guilty undertone, "I feel bad."

"Well you should have thought about that before you wound him up," Katie admonished.

"Ease off," Leshia complained. "He gave me a P when you had an E and didn't even have a clue about what was going on. I did half your essay. It's not fair." Katie flushed furiously, but after a glare from Rachel, she didn't pursue the dig at her intelligence. That there was an element of truth to Leshia's unkind words was undeniable, but Katie wouldn't hear of it. "I have to talk to him, to apologise."

"Leesh take my advice and leave him be," Rachel tried, but the young girl would hear none of it.

"Malfoy listen to your friends," Julius Black, who still remained behind, told the girl tiredly, trying to stop her from making huge mistake. "Remember that they're thinking with their minds and you with your damn curiosity. Snape won't tell you what he meant when he mentioned your father."

"What are _you_ still doing here?"

"I'm trying to stop you from making a mistake."

"Why the hell would you do that? You made it perfectly clear to me last year Black, we don't like each other and we never will right?" After a moment's thought Julius finally nodded.

"Right." Without so much as another word he ambled off down the corridor leaving Leshia glaring after him.

"Look Leshia at the moment Snape's got grounds to give you detention for a like a week, but nothing more than that. If you go in there, if you push him even more, then you might find yourself going home and there won't be anything your mum and dad will be able to do to save you." Leshia chewed on her lower lip, looking into the lion's den wondering what Snape was going to do. She desperately wanted to know what was wrong with her father and the only way to find that out would be to go through the Potions Master, but Rachel's words of wisdom were ringing in her mind. At the moment she would be in big trouble, but if she pushed the man caged up in the office then she could make things impossibly worse for herself.

"Agh," she finally complained exasperatedly. "Let's get out of here before he changes his mind and we end up having our own private Potions lesson." The girls didn't need telling twice with this threat on the table and so with a gloomy silence falling between them, they made their way to their common room where their Gryffindor peers were celebrating their surprise free period.

Leshia couldn't join them in their happiness, as the weight of what Snape was going to do to her fell heavily on her mind. How was he going to punish her for her insolence? How was she going to get out of this unscathed? Throughout the rest of the day Leshia hid her concern with bravado and the girls enjoyed a very productive day filled with laughter. Things seemed to be looking up when they noticed Snape seemed back to sorts at lunch, though he didn't look their way once. However, this was just the calm before the storm, as the girls were to find out on their way back to Gryffindor tower after their last lesson of the day.

"Alecia!" The girls stopped in their tracks and turned around very slowly to see Hermione approaching briskly, her face stony and her brow set in anger. "What have you been playing at?" Leshia glanced at her friends and nodded her head down the corridor, signalling for them to move on before it could get ugly.

"I'll meet you guys up there," she told them in an undertone.

"No Leesh, we'll stay," Rachel countered firmly, wanting to stand behind her friend on this. Katie too seemed firm in her desire to support the girl and for a moment Leshia felt touched by this. She and Katie hadn't been on the best of grounds recently, but this singular display of complete solidarity made her feel a brief moment of complete fondness for the raven-haired girl.

"How could you have behaved so appallingly in Severus' lesson? It's a miracle he doesn't want to throw you out of the school." By now Hermione had reached the girls and for a moment Leshia was amazed by her appearance; her skin was blotchy and seemed a lot more puffed up than normal.

"Mum are you alright?" the girl asked with a concerned frown.

"No I'm not alright," the woman exclaimed angrily. "Leshia why must you go out of your way to wind that man up? What do you stand to gain from it?"

"He gave me a P when I should have at least got an E, and then when I asked him to check it he changed my mark to an T!" Leshia complained defensively. For a moment Hermione frowned heavily, before she looked away from her daughter promptly.

"He did?"

"Yeah, so I decided it wasn't fair," Leshia added. "So I walked out." For several more moments Hermione seemed to be milling it over, until finally she looked back at her daughter with a much softer expression.

"I'm sorry darling, I didn't know that that's what had happened.""

"Why, what did Snape say?"

"That's not important," Hermione quickly breezed past the question. "But I must warn you, your father's on the warpath. If I were you I'd get to your common room before he finds you. I'll have a word with him, make him see what happened." Leshia smiled genuinely and quickly leaned forward and hugged her mother.

"Thanks mum. You're sure you're okay?"

"Yes I'm fine," Hermione chuckled as the pair pulled apart, though the anger was back in her face, thankfully not directed at Leshia this time. "How dare that man give you a P! You've never had a P in your life!" Hermione was still grumbling about the notion that her daughter could never receive a P when the girls hurried on to the common room. Heeding Hermione's warning, Leshia wanted to get to the tower before her father had the chance to catch her; he would not be so easily convinced.

"Snape must be really upset with me," Leshia told her friends as they hurried on. "To lie to my parents making them cross with me too is just plain evil."

"Leesh," Rachel laughed. "Snape _is_ plain evil!" Just one more corridor to go, the girls were so close, but then everything came crashing down, as there, in the distance, standing next to the portrait of the Fat Lady was a tall and wiry figure, stood feet apart, arms crossed and head bowed in anger.

"Damn," Leshia simply exclaimed after she had skidded to a halt. "He's been waiting for me."

"There's still time to run," Katie suggested worriedly.

"Are you kidding?" Leshia laughed, seemingly taking the situation very lightly considering Draco was about to take her head off for a crime she hadn't really committed. "He'd catch me up in no time, and then imagine his mood. No, I'm going to have to face him at some point, may as well be in a public place where there's lots of witnesses should he try anything homicidal."

"I don't think you should be joking about that," Rachel complained weakly, but her worry caused Leshia's mirth to increase and she started forward again to where her father had not moved from. The nearer she got the more in-focus his face became revealing the extent of his displeasure. By the time she'd come to within a few feet of him Leshia didn't feel so confidant any more.

"Young lady," Draco said darkly, his eyes narrowed. "A word?" Whereas Leshia's normal flippant response to such a statement might be, 'Which one?', now was not the time for cockiness and she merely nodded jerkily.

"Yeah sure." Without so much as a nod to his daughter Draco turned on heal and started walking off. After glancing worriedly at her friends Leshia rushed to catch up with him and fell into step beside him.

"I've talked to Severus," he announced icily.

"He lied to you."

"Did he?" The severity of her father's voice increased tenfold, so much so that Leshia edged away from him a little.

"Yeah, I spoke to mum. I don't know what he said to you, but all that happened was that he gave me a P when he gave Katie an E, but I'd helped her do almost the whole thing, so mine was much better, but anyway…"

"Leshia get to the point," Draco cut in angrily.

"I asked him to look at it again…"

"Why?"

"I told you, I didn't think I deserved a P, he was obviously being unfair." Leshia paused and glanced up at her father, trying to gauge whether he was going to interfere again, and when she had deduced that he was going to keep quiet, she continued, "So I asked him to look at it again and then instead of doing that he changed it to an T. So I walked out." Draco stayed quiet while Leshia worried about the trouble she was in. Hermione had instantly cooled at this revelation of events, but Draco seemed just as cross as he had before. "So you see…it wasn't really my fault."

"Not your fault?" Draco repeated incredulously, finally seeming to lose his rag and pushing the door open to an empty classroom. Leshia glanced about herself worriedly, not sure she wanted to step beyond the bounds of witnesses who would prevent her father from going absolutely nuts. There was nothing for it however, her dad would drag her in by her ear if she didn't voluntarily follow. "Leshia do you take some sick satisfaction out of driving that man out of his mind?" Draco demanded furiously the moment his daughter had stepped over the door and closed it behind herself.

"No," the girl complained, but she couldn't suppress the smirk on her face when she thought about how gleeful seeing Snape being carted off to St Mungos for loss of sanity would make her. Draco saw.

"Alecia what the hell is wrong with you?" he exploded. "What has happened to you this year? I don't even recognise you anymore, you're…"

"Just like you!" Leshia cut in grumpily. Draco paused for a moment and leaned forward, his eyes narrowed in disbelief almost. "Snape said something about you, you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"He said that he was tired of you walking all over him even though he's trying to save your neck. So dad, what was he talking about? What have you done?" Leshia lowered her chin and stared frowningly at her father; for he had suddenly gone very pale with wide eyes.

"What did you say?" he finally spoke, barely louder than a whisper.

"I…um…" Suddenly all Leshia's bravado had fluttered away, leaving her stumbling and scared of the fury her father's face and body-language screamed.

"Alecia, what did you just say?" Draco repeated.

"Um, nothing, I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did."

"But I didn't mean it."

"Leshia I'm going to say this once, and only once," Draco finally said very slowly. "The next time you question me; the next time you demand to know my private business I am going to take you out of this school and send you back to London." Leshia's eyes went wide and she started backing back towards the door. What on earth was wrong with her father? Who was this terrifying man? What on earth had he got himself into? "This school has changed you, and I _hate_ it."

"It's not this place," Leshia suddenly complained, finding her voice at this unjust accusation of her father. "Didn't you ever think that maybe it's because I'm growing up?"

"Oh don't give me that," Draco complained and he looked away in frustration.

"Dad I'm so tired of you treating me like a little girl," Leshia yelled, finding a pool of anger she hadn't realised was building in her heart. "I'm nearly fourteen years old, and yeah, I know what you're going to say, 'but you're still a child' and yeah, maybe I am, but for god's sake I'm not five anymore!" Silence, while Draco stared at the floor, his shoulders hunched in defeat. "Dad? I really don't want you to hate me just because I'm getting older." At this the girl's father looked up, an extremely wounded expression on his face.

"I could never hate you." Draco hung his head and rubbed the back of his hair. "You just frighten me."

"What?"

"I don't understand you anymore…I'm terrified that you're growing into someone I don't know. You're…you're all I had." Draco turned around, hanging his head back trying to suppress the emotion pouring out of him against his will.

"I'm not going anywhere dad," Leshia said worriedly. "And I'm not changing, not really. I'm just moving on to bigger things."

"You mean moving on from a houself to the potions master sort of thing?" Draco chuckled.

"Yeah, something like that," Leshia laughed happily. Draco smiled and turned around again, smiling at the girl genuinely.

"Promise me you'll never change," Draco suddenly blurted out. Leshia nodded fervently.

"I promise. But you know, I wouldn't ever want to change. I love being me."

"Could you love being you without driving Severus into an insane asylum please?" Leshia grinned and pretended to think about it.

"Um, no, sorry, that's asking too much." Draco grinned and nodded, before he walked past Leshia to the door and pulled it open.

"Ignore what Severus said," he finally spoke when he turned round in the doorframe. "There is something going on and I'm sorry to say I don't want you dragged into it, so could you just stay out of it, please, for me?" Leshia shirked her mouth to the side, before she nodded sincerely.

"Okay."

"Okay?" A small smile snaked its way onto Draco's handsome face.

"Okay."

XXX

Katie and Rachel sat in their usual window box nervously fidgeting with anything unfortunate enough to come into their vicinity. Everyone in the common room could see they were on edge, and as the news of what had happened in their Potions lesson had now spread across the school, everyone understood why the pair were nervous.

"Do you think we should go and find her?" Rachel suddenly blurted out worriedly.

"Rach it's only been two minutes," Katie complained as she looked at her watch.

"Yeah, but in that time he could have killed her and hidden all the evidence!"

"Rachel," Katie admonished. "This is Draco we're talking about. He's her _dad_. He wouldn't harm a hair on her head no matter what she did."

"Yeah, but he seemed so angry."

"That's probably because of what Severus said. Draco's in some sort of trouble and it's probably because of that that he's so angry."

"What do you think it is?" Rachel asked worriedly, very unsure of Draco's character since they had found out about his deceit with their parents.

"I wouldn't hazard a guess," Katie replied with wide eyes. She too had been shaken by the revelation about Draco, and knew enough from her parents' disclosures that the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and her friend's father had enjoyed a very shady past. Draco Malfoy had been a villain, plain and simple.

"What are you girls moping about for?" Rodeo's voice came, before the youngster dropped down beside them at the table. Katie beamed at the boy and shook her head, her worry for Leshia seemingly evaporating into the wind. Rachel noticed and felt incredibly put out by the fact.

"Nothing," Katie replied happily.

"Actually, we're worried about Leesh," Rachel quickly intercepted. Suddenly both boys jumped to attention, their handsome faces morphing into concern, greatly putting Katie's pretty nose out of joint.

"Why?" Rodeo demanded worriedly.

"What's happened to her?" his dark friend quickly added.

"Is she okay?"

"She's in trouble," Rachel explained with a worried frown.

"Well where the hell is she? We'll sort them out," Rodeo exclaimed brusquely, full of masculine bravado.

"No, I mean she's literally in trouble," Rachel giggled, finally managing to overcome her concern by the boys' mannerisms. "With her dad."

"Still want to sort him out?" Katie asked tetchily, feeling delighted at the embarrassed look that crossed the boys' faces, while their shoulders drooped in defeat.

"No," they both quickly offered.

"Um, come on Rodes, let's go do that Transfiguration homework," Parys suddenly suggested and within seconds the boys had disappeared into the crowd of Gryffindors milling about the common room. Katie watched them go with narrowed eyes.

"You are so unbelievable!" Rachel was sat up, staring at her cousin with the disbelief she had just expressed.

"What? Why?" her raven-haired cousin demanded in reply, turning around to face Rachel.

"You're all sweetness and light to Rodeo until he shows any form of attention to Leshia, and then you flip out. They were friends first Katie, or don't you remember that?"

"How dare you…"

"No! How dare _you_ get upset when Leshia's _friends_ want to help her out. You know what that is? That's vindictive."

"Wow Rachel I'm really impressed, where did you learn that word, Nicola's 'daily words' calendar?" Rachel screwed up her face in anger and jumped down from the window box, not caring about the immense shame that had materialised on Katie's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!"

"No, but you said it. Rodeo is making you act like someone you're not Katie. You've got to sort your head out before you drive all your real friends away." With this Rachel stormed off to sit on the settee across the common room, where Nicola and Ashley were happily twittering away about this, that and the other. Rachel cared not a jot for the latest fashion advice recently released in Witch Weekly magazine, but at the moment she would rather sit through a whole day's worth of History of Magic just to get away from Katie.

XXX

Leshia could sense the unease between her friends when she made it to the common room at last, and she was surprised by the joy Rodeo and Parys expressed at seeing her in one peace, but find out what had happened she did not, because no one seemed to want to tell her. The rest of the week passed in relative peace, with Leshia amazed to find she was not being punished for her run in with Snape. It would seem that Draco had had a word in the old man's ear and instead of taking out his anger on the girl, Snape laid into Draco instead about his discomfort of being abused as a lackey.

With dramas happening every day of the week the girls enjoyed their peace time immensely, getting back to the happy balance their troublesome trio had benefited from before the days of boys, puberty and school. Part of their good behaviour was in anticipation of the upcoming weekend's Hogsmeade trip, which the girls so desperately wanted to go off without a hitch. So Saturday arrived without any terrible problems spoiling the hope of the girls having a good time, and on the day of their trip into town the girls woke early and dressed in warm clothes that would shelter them from the brisk October weather.

Breakfast was an enthusiastic event, with all those above third year happily discussing plans for their day in the village of Hogsmeade. Leshia, Katie and Rachel happily planned their day's activities; including a trip to the joke shop, the sweet shop and of course the tavern for a refreshing butterbeer. Eager to avoid a repeat of the last time they were in Hogsmeade, when Leshia had thrown herself upon Owen due to a scared feeling she and the girls had experienced out by the shrieking shack, Leshia hadn't looked in Owen's direction all morning. It would seem though, that she was not going to be allowed to ignore him, as just before the pupils were scheduled to congregate out in the courtyard in order to set off for the village, the young man approached the girls.

"Leshia," he called out when the girls had started to climb to their feet and head for the door. The blonde girl spun around worriedly, wondering what on earth the boy could want. "Have you heard the news?"

"No, what is it?"

"Word on the street is second tryouts are taking place tomorrow."

"What for the tournament?"

"Yep, just thought I'd let you know. Good luck and all that, not that you need it," the tall boy said cheerfully, before he turned on heel and wandered off to where his friends were waiting for him. Leshia felt the colour drain from her face.

"Tomorrow? That gives me absolutely no time to prepare!" the girl exclaimed in outrage.

"Well what about that training you had yesterday? Isn't that preparation?" Katie asked amusedly.

"No! I wasn't even trying!"

"Leesh would you stop worrying? You'll get through no trouble," Rachel barked fondly.

"But you don't understand," the blonde girl wailed. "These are the penultimate tryouts, they'll be much tougher than the last one."

"Leesh stop being weird and just do your thing," Rachel ordered happily, before she dragged the other two out to have their names checked off on McGonagall's list. Leshia buried her fear, not wanting it to ruin their day and tried to remember the words her father had calmed her with last time. She would have to go and see him when the day was through for a repeat pep-talk.

XXX

Hermione sneezed as the floo powder she had just used to transport to Potter manor blew up her nose.

"Bless you," Ginny's amused voice came and suddenly the frizzy-haired new arrival was enveloped in a hug by her dearest friend. "Congratulations! I'm so incredibly happy for you!"

"Thank you," Hermione gushed as she hugged her friend back. "But keep it down, nobody but you knows just yet." Ginny grinned as she pulled away from the expecting-mother.

"Don't worry, I sent Harry out to play with Ronald, they won't be back for ages. So tell me, how are you feeling?" The red-haired woman guided Hermione over to the kitchen table where a piping hot mug of tea was waiting, before she dropped down beside her, resting her chin on her hand, her bright eyes probing Hermione's face.

"Oh, terribly ill," Hermione groaned with a big smile. "But in such a fantastic way."

"Does Draco suspect?" Hermione cringed guiltily and shook her head.

"I've been keeping it quite low-key. At first it was hard, but I've been working on a new spell to suppress the nausea, or at least, make it look as though I'm perfectly healthy. He does worry when I have to go to bed at around eight-o clock every night though," she laughed happily. "But I don't think he suspects this…oh Ginny, what's he going to say? He's going to be furious!"

"No he's not," Ginny countered calmly. "I know he thinks he doesn't want any more children, but he was pretty sure he didn't want Leshia either and look what happened? He fell absolutely head over heals in love the moment he laid eyes on her. It will be the same this time round, I promise." Hermione wrinkled her brow and shook her head.

"I don't know Gin, what if he doesn't? What if he thinks…"

"What if, what if, what if," Ginny laughed aloud. "Hermione listen to yourself. You mustn't worry about Draco, because he's a good guy and he will love this baby as much as he loves your first. You know family means everything to him."

"Well that's just it though," Hermione sighed heavily. "How do you think Leshia's going to react to finding out she's going to have a baby brother or sister? She's only just got used to the fact that she's got a mother again, who as soon as she comes back into her life is having another baby because she's not good enough."

"Hermione that's not true."

"No of course it's not, but that's what she'll think. And when I break her heart with the news that she's no longer going to be the apple in Draco's eye then _he'll_ hate me for it."

"Hermione you've always been too paranoid about their relationship," Ginny soothed worriedly. "Your daughter loves you as much as she does her father. She cares about you equally, just because you were away for a long time doesn't mean she thinks less of you. You're her mother, what they have is very different to the relationship the pair of you share because she's a daddy's girl through and through."

"I know," Hermione lied, feigning understanding in Ginny's wise and true words. In her heart Hermione felt she would never believe a word of it; in her eyes Draco and Leshia were first and foremost a family of two and they always would be. The red-haired woman didn't believe Hermione actually felt those words she had expressed, but didn't want to push her in her emotional state.

"So when are you going to tell him?"

"Oh I don't know, nine months or so," Hermione said with a shrug. Ginny giggled and shook her head.

"I know our husbands can be pretty dim about noticing things concerning us, but I think Draco might just notice before then."

"I don't know Ginny," Hermione sighed. "There's something going on with him at the moment that he's not telling me. He keeps disappearing off to London and Severus is doing his bidding and isn't happy about it. I'm so frustrated with him, why is he keeping secrets? What's he done?" Ginny frowned.

"How serious is it do you think?"

"Bad," Hermione replied with wide eyes. "I'm afraid that it really is serious this time, but he's keeping me in the dark. So, if he gets to keep his secrets then I get to keep them one too." Ginny frowned worriedly, feeling great concern for the state of the Malfoy family's stability. She couldn't deal with another one of her best friends facing marital stress and hoped that Draco and Hermione could work their way through this. They were after all, the most in love and best suited to one another couple that Ginny had ever encountered. It would be a great tragedy if they broke apart due to both side's incorrigible stubbornness.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

XXX

Leshia, Katie and Rachel enjoyed a very fruitful day in town, gathering about themselves innumerable shopping bags worth of loot, with which they settled down in the Three Broomsticks to have a well deserved warm tanker of butterbeer to warm their insides after wandering about in the chilly weather. The girls felt nothing could ruin their moods as they enjoyed the simplicity of each other's company during peace times, that is, until three fifth year girls from Hufflepuff rushed up to their table with big grins.

"Hi," the bolder of the girls offered.

"Hi," the trio replied somewhat suspiciously, what were these girls after?

"We were just wondering if you wanted any help with this year's party? Because we'd love to help you organise it, or decorate the room. Whatever you need," the girl was continuing. For a moment Leshia and her friends wondered whether these girls had mixed them up with somebody else, until finally the penny dropped.

"Oh," Leshia exclaimed in surprise, correctly assuming that these Hufflepuff girls were insinuating that they were going to be holding the underground Halloween bash again this year. "Um, actually, we're all set. Thanks though." With fallen faces the three girls left them to their Butterbeers.

"Okay, that wasn't good," Katie finally exclaimed. "What have we got ourselves into? Does the whole school consider us the official party-planners or something?"

"Not official my dear Katie," Leshia said with a smug smile. "What we are is even better, they think we're the best _underground_ party organisers. That's just so much cooler."

"Well we'll have to let everybody down, because we haven't got anything planned," Katie said simply, breezily forgetting the past conversations the three of them had had on this matter twice before. There was no way in her mind that they would be able to hold the party at her house; absolutely no way! Rachel and Leshia exchanged a conspiratorial glance and nodded subtly to one another; they would work on Katie.

The girls enjoyed their drinks again, forgetting about what the rest of the school might be expecting of them. It was quite fortunate for their sakes that they were quite oblivious to what the rest of the school was thinking, as they would be quite overwhelmed to find out that everyone was expecting such great things from them. The various first years throughout the school had been told many times about the great party of last year, not needing any further elucidation due to it's infamous reputation.

Just as the girls were contemplating making the long walk back to Hogwarts, they were joined by Rodeo and Parys, who dropped around them with big smiles and fresh tankards of Butterbeers in their hands for themselves and the girls. The girls thanked the boys heartily, happy for an excuse not to have to move from their cosy nook.

"We thought we should warn you guys," Rodeo said with a dark grin. "Everyone's talking about what you might be planning this year."

"You're kidding," Leshia exclaimed with a gleeful expression. "What do you mean by everyone?"

"Well I mean everyone from first year through to seventh, from Hufflepuff to Slytherin," Rodeo explained.

"Slytherin? Well they're not invited," Rachel said snootily.

"So any chance of letting us in on what you're planning?" Parys asked hopefully.

"Nope, sorry," Leshia replied with a grin. "Maybe closer to the time."

"You are planning something though aren't you?"

"My dear Parys," Rachel soothed mockingly. "Have we ever let you down?"

"Well you know, I heard a rumour," Rodeo now said with a significant smile. "I heard that they're not going to be holding a ball this year for the fourth and over years because of the poor turnout last year. They're expecting everyone to come to your thing."

"Really?" the girls exclaimed in surprise.

"Wow," Leshia sighed. "That really does pile the pressure on doesn't it?"

"You guys will rise to the challenge though," Parys assured them with a big smile. "Just make it even half as cool as it was last year and you'll have yourselves a great party."

On the walk back to the castle the girls now started noticing all the glances that they were receiving from their peers, who were not-so surreptitiously staring at them to gauge what great plans they had in store for this Halloween. It was rather daunting, and by the time the girls had got back to the castle, they were in great need of a discussion to see what they were going to do about this little problem. So as soon as they walked in the common room they rushed upstairs to their dormitory and dropped down on Rachel's bed.

"I can't believe everyone's talking about a party that we haven't even thought about yet," Rachel said excitedly. "It's so brilliant! We're like celebrities."

"Yes that's all well and good, but how are they going to react when they find out there is no party?" Katie demanded.

"Well who's to say that there's not going to be a party?" Leshia countered with a frown. "We've got great plans."

"Yes, and they're not happening! I know what you're planning Leshia and I won't hear of it. You are _not_ going to have a party at my house, there is absolutely no way in hell that that is happening."

"What exactly are your objections?" Rachel wondered with a mocking grin. Katie glared from one girl to the next, desperately trying to convey to them that she didn't want to discuss this anymore. How could she explain to them, make them see, how much obeying her parents meant to her. Handicapped by her own self-doubting mind, Katie had always wanted so very much to be natural with her parents, but she never quite succeeded. A very suspicious and fussy child, Katie had never been able to truly relax unless she was doing everything by the rules and trying her very hardest to impress Harry and Ginny. They had long got used to the fact that their daughter was a finicky sort of child, but it still hurt them to think that their only daughter didn't seem to trust that they would love her no matter how she behaved.

Neither one could figure out why Katie had turned out the way she did. Although they did suspect it was because Michael had been very sick when he was a baby, having been born very prematurely. They had lavished attention on him when Katie was still a baby herself and in need of the attention they were devoting to her younger brother. The youngster had learned at an early age that if she kept her room tidy and did exactly as she was told she could make things easier for her parents. Not wanting to burden them with her problems, even long after Michael had got better, Katie started keeping her emotions close to her chest, and treating her parents very guardedly. It distressed them and this only seemed to make matters worse for Katie, who had no idea how to regulate her emotions and behaviour to make her parents happy. They always seemed upset by her.

In recent years things had improved with Ginny, but Katie had never been able to have a somewhat normal relationship with Harry. This is why she so envied Leshia's relationship with Draco, which to her seemed perfect. Yes Draco was scary and strict, but he also understood Leshia to the core and the pair could talk about everything they desired. Leshia could go to him with any problem no matter how serious, and even though Leshia always got in to trouble, she never seemed to lose Draco's adoration or love, which he lavished upon her in spades. Katie was sure that if she got into half the trouble Leshia did then Harry would have disowned her by now; the young girl couldn't see the immense love her father felt for her, and that of course, he would let her get away with murder if only she tried. All in all, it was a very sad situation.

Leshia was watching Katie now with a small frown of concern. She knew not the ins and outs of the situation, nor the reasons for any of it, but she did know that Katie tried far too hard to impress her parents, and that these were her objections.

"Come on Rach, we'll think of something else," Leshia told the redhead. With a look of immense surprise Rachel spun around and looked to Leshia to see what on earth the blonde girl was thinking now, but soon she understood when Leshia looked at her significantly; they would work on Katie slowly. In the end, they would have their party at Potter Manor.

XXX

Sunday arrived quicker than Leshia would have liked and before she knew it she was trudging down to the quidditch pitch in the rain with the rest of the severely watered down hopefuls. With more talent than not on the pitch, this time Madam Hooch had them playing in small games to ascertain which of the pupils would make it through to the third stage of trials. Leshia was placed on a team with pupils she recognised from afar, but had never had the pleasure of making conversation with. Like the day before, she was receiving conspiratorial glances from them all, each of them wondering what she had planned for Halloween. After being asked to choose a name for their team, two boys in fourth and fifth year chose the name 'the Dungbombs' and so it was that they started their first game. Ten seconds later it was over with Leshia having spotted the snitch and caught it quite easily. The rest of the Dungbombs were quite disappointed that they hadn't had a chance to shine, which made Leshia feel a bit lousy, though she soon cheered up when she heard that seekers would be working on a switching system.

Her next team, 'the Harpies' (an all girls team) also suffered from Leshia's lightning quick ability to catch the snitch, barely enjoying two minutes of playing time. This seemed to be the general pattern and when Leshia reached her fifth team of the day and encountered someone she knew well at last, Owen Gabriel, she found out why.

"Hey shorty," Owen greeted the girl fondly. "You look so bored." Leshia shrugged. "Too easy for you eh?"

"Huh?"

"Hooch has bewitched the Snitch to go slower," Owen explained. "Weeds out the best ones, like you who catch it in five seconds flat, from the worst ones, who can't even catch it at this pace."

"Oh," Leshia exclaimed in understanding. "That's why!"

"Not to worry, I think this is the last game, after this it'll be back to dull drills," the tall boy explained with a lopsided grin. "So, how was your Hogsmeade trip? No terrifying experiences I hope?" Leshia smiled embarrassedly, but Owen wasn't being vindictive, he was merely smiling cheerfully at the girl.

"No, not this time," she quickly uttered. "It was okay I guess, we didn't really do much, just wandered round the shops. It was really cold!"

"Just wait till Christmas time comes, the whole village gets inundated with millions of little candles and elves roam the streets. It's really nice actually. You know, if you like that sort of thing." Leshia grinned at Owen's attempt to cover up for his momentary lack of 'manliness'.

"Are you staying here for Christmas?" the girl enquired.

"No," Owen sighed with a grin. "My parents like me and Sienna to come home. They have this strange concept of family and insist we spend holidays together."

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"I've got three actually, and an older brother," Owen explained with a shrug.

"Really?"

"Joshua is three years older than Sienna. He was in his last year when I was in my first. Now he plays Keeper for this French team, and absolutely loves it out there. We hardly ever see him, but every Christmas he's made to come home with whatever lady he's seeing at the time." Leshia grinned, thinking this Joshua sounded like fun.

"And are your other sisters younger?"

"Yeah, Claire and Sophie. One's ten, the other nine, they're insanely annoying," Owen chuckled. "So you see, I'd love to stay here for Christmas, but orders are orders. I don't know what they'd do if I stayed here without telling them. Probably come and drag me back by the ear." Leshia giggled. "How about you Malfoy?"

"Yeah I'll be going back to London. My mum's really into Christmas traditions, ever since she got back we've been doing everything you can imagine. This year she's been threatening to take me carol singing." Owen laughed heartily.

"I live in London too, in Hampstead. Never know, might bump into each other." Leshia grinned happily. Hampstead was only a few boroughs over from where she lived, so the possibility was there for a chance encounter with Owen Gabriel. Though why this made her so very happy she didn't know.

Further conversation with the boy wasn't possible as now the team were thrust into their next game. As had been the pattern all morning, it didn't last long with Leshia catching the snitch within the first minute. Owen was correct in his estimation about the following proceedings, and without so much as a rest the pupils were thrust into more boring drills as they had the week before.

By the end of the day Leshia was through with ISQT and wished nothing more than to curl up in her bed and sleep away the rest of the day. She was soaked through to the skin from the torrential rains that had not abated all day. Without a word to her waiting friends, keen to find out how the tryouts had gone, Leshia disappeared into the bathroom to have a well-deserved hot shower. Finally after her skin had gone bright red from the sheer heat of the shower Leshia got dressed again and went to find the others in their usual window box, where she was instantly roped into doing her left-till-the-last-minute-homework with Rachel under Katie's strict orders.

XXX

Come Wednesday Leshia and Rachel were getting desperate. No matter how hard they tried to get Katie to change her mind about their party plans, the raven-haired girl wasn't budging. The gossip of what everyone was expecting had finally reached their ears and with every day that passed Leshia and Rachel felt the pressure upon them increase. If they didn't perform then their reputations would be shot.

After break on Wednesday the girls trudged along to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom where they met their Slytherin counterparts in the hall. The gruesome bunch were eyeing them up petulantly, aware that if an insane party was going on again this year, then they wouldn't be invited.

"So blood-traitor," Damian Allseyer remarked bitterly as he wandered down the queue of Slytherins until he came face to face with Leshia. "I hope whatever you're planning is big, because I don't imagine you'll be here very long."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leshia retorted with a frown. "Planning what exactly?"

"You know exactly what I mean," Allseyer hissed. "Every year you throw a stupid party. Well this year my father says he won't stand for such blatant relaxation of the rules."

"Oh your father?" Leshia sniggered. "Well you can tell daddy that I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know anything about any parties ."

"Liar! I've heard the rumours, everybody's talking about what you've got planned."

"Well that's convenient, because I haven't planned anything, let alone told anyone my plans." Leshia was telling the truth and it was clear on her face. Allseyer scowled at her.

"Mark my words Malfoy, I won't be happy until you're thrown out of this school," the boy sneered unpleasantly, but the only reply he received was a sweet smile on Leshia's part before she turned around and led her friends to join Ashley and Nicola. For ten minutes the youngsters waited, while the more earnest of the bunch, predominantly Katie, kept checking their watches.

"Oh, he's ten minutes late! Where is he Leesh?" Katie groaned, not wanting to miss out on any precious lesson time. Leshia frowned worried and shook her head.

"I don't know. It's not like him to be late, but then again, he hasn't really been himself lately either." The girl trailed off and glanced up the corridor to her father's study door, the flickering of candle light could be seen from around its edges. "I'll bet he's in there. What's he doing?"

"You should go and see," Katie suggested.

"Why me?" The bespectacled girl stared firmly at Leshia, as though daring her to persist the obvious question. After an elaborate groan Leshia threw her hands into the air. "Fine, _I'll_ go, as usual." And so the girl stalked up the corridor, the class' eyes on her, to the Defence Against the Dark Arts office. Without knocking, she had never had to knock, she pushed the door open and instantly wished she hadn't. Her father wasn't alone, joined by a black-clad shady looking character if Leshia ever saw one. A large waxy trench coat concealed most of this figure's features, aside from the scarred nose and brow and a mane of dark grey frizzy hair that spilled out from under a large hat. Both men were sat around the desk, seemingly in a serious discussion, but the moment Leshia entered they looked up in surprise.

"Leshia!" Draco exclaimed angrily. "Get out!"

"Um, we're all waiting…"

"Out!" Not needing to be told a third time Leshia quickly backed out of the office and shut the door promptly. Panting heavily in concern and shame Leshia held onto the door knob still, staring at the shut door, trying to block out the nineteen curious (and some mocking) faces that were still watching her.

"He'll be out in a minute," she managed, before she stalked back down the corridor to the back of the queue hanging her head to avoid the questioning glances.

"What happened?" Rachel asked quietly when Leshia darted to her side and hid behind her.

"Nothing," Leshia lied and she stayed entirely silent for a further five minutes until finally Draco's office door opened again and he stalked down the corridor, not even glancing up and down the group to ascertain how presentable they were. He shoved open his classroom door and walked in, leaving it swinging open for the class, who very reluctantly filed in and took their seats.

"I apologise for being late, but there was some pressing business I had to attend to," Draco told them stonily. Everyone in the classroom continued to watch him while he leaned against the desk in the front of his classroom. That is, all but one; the smallest member of the class still hung her head, staring determinedly at her desk. Who had that man been? What the hell was going on with her father? Was he turning sides once more? Draco though, was staring directly at the girl as he spoke, willing her to look up.

As he began his lesson the girl didn't brighten up, nor did she even look up as Draco led the lesson on banshees. Most of the class participated enthusiastically in the interesting lesson about everyone's personal experiences with banshees. Toward the end everyone had spoken at least once, and Draco was determined to get Leshia to join in. He hadn't meant to stress out at the girl, but she had just witnessed something she ought not have and now it was evidently going round her mind, in conjunction with what Snape had said and his own behaviour this past week, Draco was sure the girl was imagining all manner of sinister things and he wished nothing more than to put a stop to it.

"Miss Malfoy, do you have any experiences you wish to share with the class?" Draco asked brusquely, warning her to participate.

"No," Leshia replied softly.

"Everyone has shared something, I really think you ought to do the same," Draco said with a slight hint of anger in his tone. At this Leshia looked up sharply, staring firmly at her father.

"What about you sir?" she asked tetchily. "Do you have anything you want to share?" Draco gave the girl a hard stare, ever so subtly shaking his head. "I mean you know everything I have to share, so really there's no point in me saying anything, but you! Yeah, you seem to be keeping a lot of secrets lately…"

"That is enough," Draco snapped in frustration.

"No it is not enough!" Leshia countered passionately.

"Oh yes it is if you want to stay in this class."

"Well what if I don't? I don't want to be anywhere near you. All you do is lie and keep secrets!" Everyone in the class was staring in complete and utter horror as Draco's expression turned murderous. They very much wanted to cut loose and run, and indeed those seated around Leshia, including her friends, started to edge away from the seemingly suicidal girl.

"Pack up and get out," Draco said darkly, but Leshia shook her head fervently.

"No! You can't get rid of me that easily dad, I'm not just going to stop wondering what the hell you're doing because I'm not sitting in your lesson."

"Well what do you want me to do about it Leshia? There's _nothing_ I can do! I don't know what the hell I'm doing! I don't know how to stop it!" Draco suddenly snapped feverishly, seemingly forgetting where he was. He panted in stress and threw his hand up to his forehead, leaning back against his table, lifting his other his face, to cover himself from the class. Leshia's brow knitted in such worry that she seemed suddenly a hundred years old with the wrinkles in her young face.

For several minutes nobody moved, stuck in some horrible sort of equilibrium where everybody wished so dearly to be somewhere else. The bell ringing to signify the end of the lesson was a God send, and without being excused Leshia's fellow classmates leapt to their feet with a scraping of chairs and rushed out the classroom without so much as a glance back. Leshia remained, but she too climbed to her feet and approached her father, who still stood with his face in his hands.

"Dad I'm so sorry," the girl whispered and she quickly rushed to her father's side and wrapped her arms around him, trying to press her face between his forearms, still holding his hands pressed upwards. "But I'm scared, I don't know what you've got yourself into."

Wanting so much to express how scared he too felt, Draco instead buried his feelings behind wall of strength and then slowly wrapped his arms around Leshia's shoulders, letting her know he wasn't angry with her. Of course she was going to want to know what was going on in his world. She'd always known everything about him and now she had no idea what was going on with him it was only natural for her to want to find out. He'd raised her this way, so he couldn't very well get angry with her for being exactly what he'd turned her into.

"Don't tell your mother," Draco whispered after a few moments.

"Why not?" Leshia demanded worriedly as she pulled back and looked up at her father in immense concern.

"Because I don't want you to worry her," Draco told the girl firmly.

"But she has a right to know…"

"Leesh just please, for once can you just do as your told?" There was such pleading in her father's face that Leshia nodded weakly; she couldn't refuse him anything. She would keep to her word.

As the following lesson was Ancient Runes, the test of Leshia's promise was to come sooner rather than later, and after Leshia had ran to catch up with her friends she filed into her mother's classroom with them. Hermione instantly sensed something was wrong, but instead of probing the girl in front of the whole class she waited until the subdued lesson was over and then asked her daughter to remain behind. Leshia did so reluctantly, her head hanging over her desk.

"So," Hermione remarked lightly, walking over to her daughter and sitting down on the desk beside hers. "Do you want to talk about it?" Leshia looked up pathetically and nodded dolefully.

"Yes," she sighed. "But I can't. I made a promise." Hermione's brow wrinkled in worry.

"They should never have asked you to keep a promise that would make you so upset," the concerned mother said gently and she reached out and smoothed Leshia's curls down. "Are you in any trouble sweetheart?"

"No, it's nothing like that," the girl replied, instantly soothing Hermione's worries a little.

"Can I help?" Leshia sighed and shook her head, looking down once more at her hands, which lay limply on her desk.

"No, I really don't think you can."

Leshia remained grave all day throughout their afternoon free period (on account of their astronomy lesson at midnight) something which had Katie and Rachel sharing her pain at seeing their friend so down. In retrospect Leshia was very glad of the mood she had been in that day, as just before dinner Katie cracked, completely unable to see her friend so depressed, and knowing that she could make it better instantly.

"Leshia," Katie said gently to the girl buried deep into one of the large armchairs. The blonde girl didn't even look up from her stoical stare into the hearth. "I just wanted to let you know that your plan, you know, for a certain house and a certain wardrobe…" Leshia looked up sharply at the dark-haired girl. "Well, I'd be happy to help."

As Katie had predicted, the change within Leshia was instantaneous and she leapt up, throwing her arms around Katie's neck. Rachel, who had been listening in intently, joined them exuberantly, wrapping her own arms around both of them.

"Oh Katie you complete and utter star!" the redhead crowed jubilantly. "I really think I love you!"

"Hey," Katie laughed. "I'm your cousin, you should love me no matter what I do."

"More to the point," Leshia added. "We're all best friends, so you really ought to love her no matter how silly she can be."

"Hey! I can retract my offer," Katie giggled.

"Oh no you can't Katie," the blonde girl exclaimed joyously. "That's it now, it's set in stone. A week on Saturday is going to be the most amazing night any of us have ever had, I'll make sure of it!"

XXX

Friday brought Katie's fourteenth birthday and in order to express their gratitude at Katie's acceptance of their party plans Rachel and Leshia threw the girl a small party in the common room with smuggled food from the kitchens and party decorations they had manufactured when they walked past the room of requirement expressing an intense desire to find some decorations. Katie was gleeful of their efforts and had one of the happiest birthdays she could remember.

Saturday brought forth the final tryouts for the ISQT squad, which saw all of last week's hopefuls come and await judgment. Madam Hooch had devised a plan that saw five teams competing in an all day tournament, and as such, the whole school had turned out to watch. Whether or not the pupils had got through to this last round they were about to find out. The stab of panic Leshia had felt was unnecessary as her name was read out first. The momentary stab of happiness Leshia felt was soon washed away though by the news that Allseyer was going to be in her team.

"Brilliant," she grumbled, and at her side Rodeo chuckled. He was still holding out for a place in the third trials and privately Leshia was sure he would make it through after the way he'd been flying the week before. Owen Gabriel was placed in the next team and after that one his sister met a place. Rodeo was starting to look entirely unsure of himself, until finally his name was called in the fifth and final team. After thanking all those who had tried out Madam Hooch gave the teams their schedules and quite predictably, Leshia found she would be playing Owen's team first. Their seeker was a fourth year Ravenclaw girl named Alexandra Cliff, who was best friends with the absolutely beautiful girl Owen was wrapped up in a conversation with: Valerie Beckett. Val. Yes, Leshia had heard the name Val spoken in delight by many of her male peers and now she was getting a good look at her. Arguably a good chaser Val was now a member of the Ravenclaw team and Leshia hated to say it, but the girl was good.

Seeing her talk to Owen now, swishing her dark long curls over her shoulders and fluttering her thick dark eyelashes at him, was making Leshia feel a little ill. So she looked away and instantly found something more repulsive to turn her stomach.

"Don't fall off eh blood-traitor," Allseyer jibed at the girl as he walked past and shouldered her out the way. Leshia glared at him as he sauntered off and she wished more than anything that she could march right up to him with her broom in her hands and take a swing at him. Stuck in the daydream where she was thwacking the boy with her treasured racing broom, the girl entirely missed the point where Madam Hooch blew her whistle signifying the start of the game.

Everyone had risen to the air by the time Leshia became aware of what was going on, at which point she leapt onto her broom and rose to the air amidst a sea of laughter at her complacency. With a new desire to show the mocking school that she really was better than their contempt, the girl threw herself into the game, and it paid off. Barely fifteen minutes had gone by in which Owen's team was ahead by nearly a hundred points (they did after all have the legendary keeper himself), before Leshia spotted the speck of gold hovering behind the goal hoops down Owen's end. Like a bullet she sped across the pitch, dropping into a lower and lower dive the more the snitch tried to evade her.

The players practically stopped playing and watched while the lightning quick little seeker darted round them so expertly, leaving Alexandra Cliff trailing in her wake with not even a glimmer of hope of catching up with her. Owen too stopped and stared when the snitch came to hover directly in front of his face, and for a moment he felt a stab of fear when he saw the small seeker heading right for him, her face so low down on her broom that she looked entirely focused, and a little bit evil. Despite himself, the boy managed to keep his eyes open while right before his face the girl snatched the snitch from the air and managed to pull off precision stop so that she came to rest beside the boy mid-air. The cheers from the crowds were deafening and Leshia felt entirely vindicated for their laughter only a quarter of an hour before.

"Nice one Malfoy," Owen said cheerfully.

"You weren't so bad yourself Gabriel," Leshia replied cockily, before she dropped into a dive so she could clear the pitch for the next game.

Leshia's further games went exactly the same way as her first, with her catching the snitch after a pretty poor effort on her team's side. Allseyer didn't perform well at all Leshia was happy to say, and although they lost their last game despite Leshia catching the snitch, the girl was still happy as she trudged back to her common room to change because she was sure Allseyer wasn't going to make it. Rachel and Katie talked her ear off about how they were sure that she was going to make the team, but Leshia couldn't allow them to get her hopes off, so she ignored them as best as she could without seeming rude.

When Leshia was changed and had made her way back to her room she frowned at the note that lay on her cushion. In the past, notes smuggled into her room somehow had only meant bad news as more often than not they contained threats from her grandfather. This note was entirely harmless however, as it read:

_Got time in your busy schedule to have dinner with your old mum and dad? I know we're not as thrilling as the praise you'll no doubt receive at dinner for your performance today, but we'd love to see you_

_Love mum xxx_

"Can we go down to dinner now?" Rachel was whining playfully; she'd been grumbling all throughout the last game (which had gone on two hours – Leshia was not playing in this one it was safe to say) due to her grumbling stomach.

"If it means you'll stop moaning," Katie laughed. "You coming Leesh?"

"Sorry losers, I'm going to have to love you and leave you. I've got a better offer," the youngster replied happily and she made for the door.

"Charming," Rachel exclaimed only feigning the insult in her tone. Leshia grinned at the pair of them before she darted out of the room and headed for her parents' chambers. They were waiting for her Hermione in the kitchen cooking some delicious smelling concoction with Draco at her side opening a bottle of wine.

"Hi," Leshia called to them brightly, before she wandered into the kitchen and started to nibble on some of the carrots Hermione had cut up for steaming. "I'm starved, mum this looks so good."

"Hi trouble," Draco said fondly reaching out momentarily to ruffle the girl's hair.

"Well done darling, you played so well today," Hermione told the girl happily, briefly pausing in her task to hug the girl firmly.

"It got kinda boring towards the end," Leshia said with a shrug. "Four games is way too much to do in a row. Hey dad can I have some?" the girl asked eagerly when she saw her father had finally got the bottle open.

"Will you get horribly drunk and start swinging from the chandelier?" Leshia giggled and shook her head quickly.

"I don't think so."

"Okay then, grab a glass," Draco said and he started pouring three glasses of wine. Hermione instantly noticed and she made a fond exasperated sound.

"Darling I told you, no alcohol, I'm on a diet!" the woman laughed.

"But…" Draco tried.

"No," Hermione said fondly. Grumbling slightly Draco stuck to two glasses, making sure there was very little in one of them. Dinner was soon done and as the family sat down to eat the delicious food Leshia felt a momentary sense of warmth. And as dinner progressed Leshia's parents seemed to forget about their respective problems, instead acting like they had in the summer: with not a care in the world.

Quite naturally for such an occasion, talk of their friends, the Weasleys and the Potters cropped up. Hermione was expressing how concerned she was for Ron, having to constantly have battles with her over every little move he made. It was depressing for his friends who had to watch him suffer. The couple were slipping down a rocky slope toward breaking point and purely for humane reasons in that Ron and the children were suffering from all this strife, Hermione wished dearly that they would separate sooner rather than later.

"I just want him to have one night surrounded by his friends so he has the strength to carry on again," Hermione sighed grimly. Imperceptibly Leshia jumped to attention, her mind going into overdrive while she thought how she could manipulate this situation to better serve her and her friends. Yes, she was very concerned for Ron's wellbeing, he was after all her best friend's much loved dad, but if there was a way to comfort him and get Ginny and Harry out of their house, then why not kill two birds with one stone?

"Why don't you have them all round for dinner here?" Leshia suggested. "You never bring them here." Draco and Hermione turned to look at the girl in thought, both evidently thinking hard; though their subject matter was entirely different. While Hermione considered the possibility of entertaining her dear friends in her 'home' for the first time, Draco was meanwhile wondering why he had felt, through his misunderstood grasp over Legilimency, a surge of mischief come from Leshia moments before.

"You know," Hermione finally said with a big smile. "That is a very good idea. What do you think darling?" Seeing the bright and beautiful smile on Hermione's face instantly elicited a nod from Draco; he could not deny this woman anything. "Oh wonderful!"

"Besides," Leshia added; and she too was beaming the same as her mother. "You've both been so, um, distracted lately, it'll be nice for you to unwind as well."

"Tell me shorty, will you and your hoodlum friends be joining us?" Draco asked curiously while leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms out behind himself.

"We might be popping in throughout the evening."

"Oh? Why, do you have other plans?" Leshia shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to lie to her father. "Leshia?"

"Draco," Hermione interrupted with a smile. "Of course she has plans, but maybe we should just leave her to them." Leshia stared in wonder at her mother. Where had this about-turn in personality come from? Normally Hermione would never dream of condoning Leshia's rule-breaking. She could not know that Hermione was pre-emptively pacifying her by letting her have her way, so that when the news finally broke about the new Malfoy baby, hopefully Leshia would be of a far more understanding disposition.

"Fine," Draco said amusedly, before he leaned forward once more with a very stern look. "But any plans that involve that Bulgarian thickhead Krum, and I'm sending you to school in Iceland." Leshia laughed, as did Hermione; the only difference between them was that Leshia considered her father to be joking, and Hermione had a sneaking suspicion he was serious. She had caught him looking up information about the Povetski all girls' Magic school in Reykjavik. Draco's dislike of Victor Krum, the Bulgarian seeker who was now on the brink of retiring stemmed from the fact that he and Hermione had briefly enjoyed an interlude with one another when Draco went missing presumed dead straight after the war. Hermione had been in a state and had rebounded onto Krum as though he were Draco reincarnated. Needless to say, when Draco returned and Hermione pregnant with his child and seeing Krum he did everything in his powers to win her back. Ever since a great feeling of animosity had existed between the two men, which Leshia had not helped by inviting Viktor Krum to last year's Halloween bash, which had thus far gone down in history as the best party in Hogwarts history, and consequently the reason everyone was expecting so much this year.

"I promise dad, that whatever it is that I might or might nor be doing," Leshia said firmly and resolutely; so much so that Draco faltered in his suspicions of her. "Victor Krum is not going to be involved in any shape or form."

XXX

The revelation that Leshia had procured the means by which to distract Harry and Ginny was taken with mixed emotions back at Gryffindor tower. Rachel was over the moon and went into overdrive, bouncing off the walls and already mentally scoping out the grounds for their decorations. While Katie went very quiet, wondering what on earth she'd let herself in for. The girls had a week to plan their party and so the preparations began.

Knowing already that the room of requirement could produce the decorations they would need, and alongside the cabinet itself, decorating their party wasn't going to pose a problem. Keeping their guests warm in the cold October weather was causing more of a problem, when the girls walked past the room of requirement wishing for some means to keep warm by and all the room seamed to produce was mountains of thick blankets.

"We'll just tell them all to bring coats," Rachel suggested and as this was the best idea they had, Leshia and Katie agreed, saying they would also light torches about the place to add an extra feeling of warmth and atmosphere. The room provided on one occasion a sideless marquis and after considering that they could shrink it with a charm, the girls decided they would request more of these and they too would be coming with them through the cabinet.

Food they ordered from the elves in the kitchen, sneaking in after class one day (after making sure Leshia was keeping Tally very much distracted by pretending to be ill – later on after her friends had returned the blonde girl had attested that the half hour she spent alone with the elf had been the most excruciating half hour of her life). The elves were more than happy to deliver food and drinks to the room of requirement and didn't even question what the girls were up to.

Moving the cabinet to the grounds didn't pose too much of a problem, as the girls had decided that they would go through ahead of any of their decorations and levitate it to the lawns down by the lake. A greater problem was how they were going to transport two hundred odd pupils through the room of requirement and into the cabinet effectively. They didn't want to give away their advantage of what the room was and how they would get to it. In the end they devised a clever system, telling their guests to come round at an exact time at which point they would be guided towards the cabinet, which the girls would place just inside the door in the room of requirement and they would shut the doors behind them before they had a chance to realise where they were. The open door to the room of requirement would be covered by a large tapestry should any teachers wander along the corridor; to which the girls also had a diversionary tactic in a pretend fall Rachel was going to take down the stairs to draw them away from any suspicious behaviour in the corridor.

All in all the girls were very happy with their plan, and truly, the only concern they had was keeping their parents occupied long enough to throw a great party. Yes, in the past gatherings their parents had held tended to go on until the early hours of the morning, but with the current state of things, would they be able to pull one of hose evenings out of the hat? In order to check up on them regularly, the girls decided they would go in twos every half and hour to ascertain whether their parents were still enjoying themselves (and if not run interference to make sure they would).

Before Saturday's events could take place however, the girls were to chair the first meeting with the Blue Lions. Their original plan had included meetings on Wednesdays every two weeks with emergency meetings being called in between if an emergency arose (in which case the coins would be used to alert the members), and yet three had passed since their original meeting to set up the secret gang. The reason being that the week before when they had scheduled their original meeting was the day Leshia had fallen out with her father and was far too grave to chair a meeting. The group had been informed through a series of whispers, and now, due to last weeks delay, people were quite eager to attend the very first official meeting with the lions. Leshia and her friends went early to the room of requirement, wishfully urging it to produce a room where they could hold their meetings. They were gleeful to open the door onto a cosy candle lit room covered by drapes and tapestries and with twenty-three large and cosy cushions on the ground, fashioned in a circle so as to make for easy discussion. Beside each cushion was a small table to place refreshments on, or anything else they pleased.

"Look!" Rachel had squealed excitedly. "They've got butterbeer and cake! Just like I promised." What was more impressive was the empty logbook that lay on a small lectern by one of the cushions – evidently a means of keeping note of the things the girls were going to discuss. They had not considered such a logbook and were very happy that the room had provided one. After all, what safer place to keep it than in a room most pupils didn't know how to get to? And in the eventuality that they did know of its existence, they would have to be wishing for the same thing the girls had just wished for.

Everyone arrived on time and were guided into the room they had not known existed. Needless to say they were very impressed and had soon made themselves comfortable, taking a butterbeer and slice of cake to their chosen cushions. Leshia, Katie and Rachel sat themselves down on three of the cushions where logbook lay and after everyone had quietened down Leshia spoke,

"Thanks for coming, I wasn't really sure that anyone would," she said with a meek grin. "I hope you don't mind, but Katie's going to keep a log of the meetings, just so we can keep up with what's going on." There was a general mumbling that people didn't mind and so Leshia grinned and carried on. "Basically, if anyone's heard of anything, or witnessed or even experience anything strange then, you know, now's the time to talk about it." Feeling like a prize idiot Leshia now hung her head and waited for people to speak.

"Actually," said a girl in Ravenclaw known as Gracie Wallace, a girl Leshia and her friends had got friendly with in some of their lessons. Her best friend Claire had also been invited, as well as two boys from their class that Rodeo and Parys were very friendly with known as Alex and David. Gracie was continuing, "I've been having this really strange nightmare several times a week." The girl didn't seem shy, but she did seem quite afraid as she relayed her experience. "It's quite horrible actually, I'm being strangled in it. There's this familiar voice in the background pleading 'not to tell them'. I don't know what it means." The girl trailed off while several youngsters in the room stared at her wide eyed.

"Oh my God, I've had that exact same dream!" Owen's friend Dan exclaimed, while several of the others quickly attested that they too had had the dream, while others claimed they'd heard word of friends, or friends of their friends having the same experiences. This seemed to be the impetus the meeting needed and soon everyone was discussing how on earth people could be having the same frightening dream.

"Maybe there's a ghost roaming around that was killed by being strangled and is now having its revenge on the pupils in the school," Amy, Rachel and Katie's cousin, suggested, to which several people nodded.

"But there's something else," Gracie now announced. "I've been having these really weird headaches, which suddenly come on right before I get this horrible feeling of being watched."

"I've had that too," Nicola whispered quietly. "And I know for a fact that Charlie's had it too." The girl was referring to Charlie Dotton, who was a boy in their year in Gryffindor. Leshia started to frown, while across the room Rodeo was shifting on his cushion uncomfortably as though he too had experienced such a thing.

"You're all muggle borns," Leshia suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "These headaches, they're only happening to muggle borns." The room fell silent as everyone pondered the meaning of such a discovery. Why would a ghost who had been strangled only target muggle borns? There had to be more to the story.

An hour passed by quickly, and by the end of it everybody had a lot more to say, but dinner would soon be served. There was one more matter to discuss however, before they all went to satisfy their grumbling stomachs.

"Actually," Leshia called over the group when they started to get to their feet. "There's one more thing we wanted to talk about. I know there's quite a few of us already, but we've got quite a few more members we're thinking of letting into the group if they show they're you know, up for it. And well, we were wondering if there's anyone you guys want to let into the gang, because we're all equals here, so if there's anyone anyone in the club wants to let in, then we'll have a talk about it as a group and decide what to do."

"Who are the people you guys didn't ask already?" Rodeo asked curiously.

"Just most of the Weasley clan," Rachel replied making a few people laugh. "You know, the younger ones, we weren't sure whether we could have all those youngsters running about the place."

"Well if everybody has a think about it anyway, and then at the next meeting we'll discuss what to do about it," Leshia cut in before Rachel could ramble on too much. After a general nodding of agreement the youngsters all climbed to their feet and filed out of the room. Leshia, Katie and Rachel stayed behind for a few moments to make sure they could shut the door properly so as it would disappear back into the wall. All in all it had been a very successful meeting, and as they wandered down to the great hall for the delicious roast meal that was waiting for them, the girls praised their own ingenuity. With the aid of the Blue Lions, they were going to find out what was terrorising the school, and surely with their combined efforts they would find a way to beat it?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sorry for the delay guys, I finished this weeks ago, but I've been in Qatar where I can't get on to Fanfiction because they say it has material that is not allowed in Qatar. Completely sucked, but hey, it's here now :)

Review, review, review; and thanks for all those that reviewed already :D


	6. Part Six

A/N – Hey guys! Trying to kick-start an advertising forum where people can advertise their stories. We need a place for some publicity and place where people can go browse for stories, so I want everybody to go to this forum and do a little advertising :)

**Generations: the Blue Lions**

**Part VI**

"Did you hear? The Gryffindors are planning the most amazing party yet."

"Have you been given your time yet?"

"I wonder what bands they've invited this year."

"Nothing can top last year's bash, absolutely nothing!"

"I'm so excited."

"What are you wearing?"

Leshia, Katie and Rachel's ears were ringing with the excitable whispers flooding through the corridor like wildfire. It was Saturday morning and over night they had carried out immense covert operations to send the various common rooms times for different years to start showing up at various points around the school, where they would be collected by a representative of the party throwers and taken to the venue. Without actually revealing anything about the nature of the party, the girls were keeping absolutely silent over any details of their amazing party, to the point that even now they were walking with their heads held high, not heeding the curious looks everyone was shooting them. They had learnt from last year that revealing too much about their party alerted the teachers about five seconds later to their plans, and so now, to the eye of the casual observer, they appeared completely oblivious to their peers' gossiping.

The girls had in fact been working frantically to gather their preparations and work out an exact action plan for this evening's events. Katie's parents were due to arrive at Hogwarts at five, giving the girls half an hour to keep them pacified, before making it to the wardrobe for five-thirty. This would give them an hour and a half to ready the venue before the first of their contingents of guests arrived. After testing the room of requirement to its full, finding out that anything they wanted it to provide it would soon rise to the occasion, delivering vast amounts of decorations and food stuffs (even outdoing the elves and their fantastic work), the girls had stockpiled everything their needed into carefully arranged piles shrunken to an easily transportable size.

The only tricky part would be shrinking and transporting the wardrobe out to their chosen venue location. Katie was terrified they were going to short-circuit the magic controlling the transporting mechanism effectively stranding the girls at Katie's house, or even worse, evaporating one of them into smithereens when they tried to get through again. Leshia had volunteered time and time again to be the first one to go through their relocated wardrobe and yet the raven-haired girl remained extremely twitchy about the whole thing. In fact, it was safe to say, Katie remained extremely twitchy about the whole operation.

"What's going on?" Leshia suddenly uttered when she caught wind of the energised hubbub down the corridor in the entrance hall. Ice started to snake down the girl's spine when she worked out what could cause such a crowd to gather in front of the notice boards, and quite suddenly the girl stopped walking.

"Leesh what's wrong?" Rachel questioned with a wrinkled brow. "I'm starving, let's get to lunch before Rodeo and Parys finish the lot."

"Rach," Katie sighed imploringly, being much more 'with it' than her cousin, having already worked out what had Leshia spooked.

"Well it's true, they went for lunch like fifteen minutes ago, I'd be amazed if there's anything other than sprouts and spuds left."

"Leshia you're going to have to face it at some point, why not get it over with?" Katie tried tentatively.

"Because I can probably get away with hiding from it for a while," Leshia countered, starting a slow and steady back step down the corridor. After giving Rachel a significant look Katie took hold of the short girl's arm and started dragging her down the corridor, after a moment's hesitation Rachel joined in, still not sure what Leshia was running from now.

"I really think you should let me go," Leshia warned her friends through gritted teeth.

"You'd do the same for us Leesh," Katie said simply, an element of glee coating her tone; it wasn't often she got to boss Leshia around.

"Um, what are we doing?" Rachel asked after a moment's silence, her brow wrinkled in a dim look, eliciting a long-suffering sigh from her cousin.

"It's the squad list," the raven-haired girl finally explained obviously. Hearing the words spoken aloud reignited the sliver of terror in Leshia's spine and her feet stopped moving once more.

"I can't look."

"Fine, well if _you_ won't look, then _I_ will," Katie exclaimed exasperatedly, before she let go off Leshia's arm and started flouncing off down the corridor.

"No, Katie!" Leshia hissed after the girl. A few moments of silence followed in which Leshia stared after the girl incredulously, her nerves eating away at her insides, while Rachel too fought an inner battle: to remain at Leshia's side, or to quell her own curiosity and follow her cousin.

"Sorry Leesh," the redhead finally uttered before she bolted.

"Rach!" For several moments Leshia paced the corridor agitatedly, watching as her friends disappeared into the sea of excitable pupils crowding the quidditch notice boards. How on earth were they meant to understand? Never before had Leshia felt such pressure to perform as she did with this ISQT malarkey. Insecurity in her own performance and superiority was something no one would have expected from the girl, least of all herself, and yet here she stood, doing some peculiar nervous jig while her friends found out her fate.

"Malfoy?" Leshia spun around wide-eyed meeting the gaze of an amused Owen Gabriel.

"Owen," the girl replied in surprise, while the boy's eyes travelled past the girl before him to the hubbub up the corridor.

"Oh right, wicked," the tall youngster exclaimed happily. "You been to look yet?"

"Uh, not exactly."

"Come on then." With no further ado the boy strode past Leshia toward the notice boards. Helpless but to follow him, she had a reputation to protect after all (and secretly she felt she would follow Owen Gabriel to the ends of the earth), Leshia darted after him. Seeing the arrival of two of the most prestigious players approaching the crowd of pupils started to part, allowing the two Gryffindor legends passage. The blonde girl hung her head a little where Owen held his proud and tall, until finally they reached the notice board and Leshia looked up:

_Hogwarts is proud to announce their 1st VII Quidditch team_

_Owen Gabriel, Gryffindor  
Alecia Malfoy, Gryffindor  
Nick Mills, Slytherin  
Will Mills, Slytherin  
Valerie Beckett, Ravenclaw  
James Flint, Slytherin  
Mila Evanovitch, Gryffindor_

_And their 2nd VII Quidditch team_

_Jacob Flint, Slytherin  
Martin Lahara, Ravenclaw  
Tom Weasley, Gryffindor  
Luke Weasley, Gryffindor  
Rodeo Holsson, Gryffindor  
Sienna Gabriel, Ravenclaw  
Nick Jones, Hufflepuff_

_All players report for first training TOMORROW at three-o clock sharp!_

_Madam Hooch_

The young girl couldn't stop the smile that sprung onto her face by its own accord: she had made it! She was on the Hogwarts first seven!

"Nice one Malfoy," Owen said cheerfully. "Not that there was any danger there right?"

"Don't say stuff like that," Leshia laughed, her relief making her giddy. "You're going to give me a big head."

"Sounds like you could do with it," the tall boy replied amusedly and he turned a twinkling smile on the girl. "So, I will most certainly see you later. Seven past seven right?" Leshia's face morphed into a serenely confused look.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said innocently, before the mood suddenly changed with the arrival of two very excited cousins.

"You made it!" Rachel crowed deliriously.

"See, there was nothing to worry about," Katie added. Leshia shot Owen a worried glance, but the boy was tactfully looking away, bowing out of the conversation.

"Easy," Leshia laughed and she struggled out of the throng of people, who had now had enough of making way for the local celebrities and were clambering to see the board again.

"I can't believe Rodeo made it into the seconds," Rachel called after Leshia, as she struggled past the crowds and landed at the blonde girl's side.

"Good for him," Leshia chirruped happily and the three girls headed for the doors to the great hall, which lay practically deserted. Up Gryffindor table Rodeo was receiving praise from his friends; none of them had ever imagined the boy would come from nothing to make it onto the reserve list for the Hogwarts team. Upon Leshia's arrival however, the attention suddenly shifted to her and the third year Gryffindors started applauding her.

"Make way for the Hogwarts seeker!" Rachel trumpeted to the group, who quickly shifted aside giggling to give room for a blushing, yet grinning Leshia.

"Rodes you did so well to get on to the seconds," Leshia told the boy the moment she sat down, eliciting a surprised beaming smile from the young man.

"Thanks. Not as good as you though, you swot," he chuckled.

"How can you be a swot with quidditch?" Leshia giggled.

"Yeah, isn't that just called talent?" Rachel added amusedly as she dropped down at Leshia's side, her elbow resting on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah that, or dumb luck. Take your pick," Parys piped up charmingly, offering Leshia a dashing smile to show he was joking. The children continued to bask in the excitement of the morning's events, the secret underground party at Potter Manor being temporarily sidetracked from the populous' conscious. When the girls were stuffed full of good food (it turned out Parys and Rodeo hadn't quite devoured everything in sight) they bade their friends adieu and headed for the door. Before they'd crossed its threshold however, they were stopped in their tracks by the unpleasant and rather sudden appearance of Damian Allseyer.

"Hello bloodtraitor," the boy growled. "Having a nice day are we?"

"Very nice actually, thanks for asking," Leshia replied lightly, before she and her friends tried to make a prompt exit. They had long decided that should the vile Slytherins try and confront them on this day, then they wouldn't allow themselves to be lured in, they would remain aloof and ignore the frightful snakes until they could better get their own back. It was vital that they remain out of trouble with the teachers and also vital that they did not disclose any information about their party.

"You know why you're on the firsts don't you?" Allseyer was continuing bitterly – safe to say it hadn't escaped Leshia's notice that the boy had not even made it through to the seconds; he who prided himself so on his so-called quidditch talents.

"Because I'm better than the likes of you and your dim-witted friends?" Leshia remarked lightly, forgetting about the no-cavorting-with-the-enemy rule temporarily to stick it to the pointy-faced boy. Katie, who had her wits about her, stared hardly at Leshia, before she started drifting away, trying to lure her friends with her. There were enough potential problems about that night; Leshia getting a detention for fighting with Allseyer again would only further the nightmare that was to be their Halloween bash.

"You wish," Allseyer snapped furiously, a cruel smile on his face. "Seen daddy today have we?"

"What?" Leshia asked in a steely tone.

"Well, I'd imagine he'd be proud to show off his handiwork, getting his incompetent daughter onto the Hogwarts team must have taken quite some persuasive tactics, but he managed didn't he?"

"Shut your mouth Allseyer," Leshia hissed angrily, her temper flaring up out of nowhere. How dare this weasel suggest that Draco had somehow used heavy-handed tactics to get her onto the team! And yet, a tiny part of Leshia's innermost insecure psyche believed every word the unpleasant and jealous boy spat out.

"Or what?" Allseyer jeered amusedly, gleeful to see his teasing had riled Leshia up in record time.

"Yes Miss Malfoy, what will you do next?" Leshia and her friends spun around to find Professor Lewis standing behind them staring coolly at the children who were about to lock loggerheads together in battle. He'd been observing them for quite some time and understood the score: both were up to no good and needed separating.

"Um, go quietly back to our common room sir," Leshia replied in her most enchanting tone of voice. Lewis nodded slowly, and knowing full well how lightly they were getting off Leshia and her friends bolted, waiting till they'd got round the corner to let rip over how they hated Allseyer.

"Ignore everything that worm tries to tell you Leshia, he's just jealous," Katie told the blonde-girl firmly.

"Of what? What if it's true?"

"Yeah sure, Madam Hooch just let your dad intimidate her into letting you on the team. It's got nothing to do with the fact that you're the bloody best seeker in this school. Oh no, nothing to do with that at all," Rachel ranted sarcastically. Leshia stifled a grin.

"He's jealous that the Slytherins haven't been invited tonight," Katie explained, she too trying to suppress her grin at her cousin's theatrics. At this Leshia couldn't help but smile broadly.

"Oh yeah, none of the Slytherins are invited. What a shame." The three girls cackled loudly as they skipped arm in arm down the corridor; life was good. The girls spent the afternoon going over the finer points of their plans, setting up a makeshift office in their window box in the common room conferring with their lackeys who was doing what and whether they knew what they were doing. Five rolled by sooner than they would have liked and with it faze one of Operation Potter Party sprung into action.

"We're going to go do the meet and greet at my parents' place, you guys have to remember to be at the painting with the bands at quarter to seven," Leshia told Rodeo and Parys as they walked the girls to the door.

"Quarter to, got it," Rodeo relayed.

"And not a moment later," Leshia warned cheerfully. Both boys grinned adoringly at the girl and nodded once more to say that yes, they were more than capable of collecting the student bands the girls had signed up for the underground party and delivering them to the secret venue. With a quick wave and a hurried "Good luck," from the boys Leshia and the cousins were underway. They walked in silence, hoping beyond hope that the evening would go well and they wouldn't get caught; leading to almost inevitable punishment for the rest of their lives – after all, how many wizarding statutes, laws and Hogwarts rules were they breaking? Before they knew it they'd reached the painting of the newlyweds that concealed Leshia's parents door, and after a steadfast grin at her friends the youngster reached out and scratched the groom's foot, causing the painting to swing forward revealing the open doorway of Hermione and Draco's chambers. Inside all their parents had gathered and were currently in the opening throws of a promising night; Ginny and Hermione were sitting at the dining room table exchanging recently taken photographs, cocktails in hand (a non-alcoholic variety for Hermione) and the men were sat on the sofas slugging at their whiskeys, fondly mocking and jeering one another.

Upon the arrival of the girls the hubbub momentarily waned while Rachel and Katie greeted their parents, and Leshia suddenly became the centre of praise from hers. Hermione was teary-eyed and even Draco seemed unusually emotional about her success.

"We're so proud of you," Hermione gushed, as she flattened Leshia's unruly curls a little onto her head.

"And there was you skulking in a bathroom because…" Draco began amusedly, one arm wrapped round his daughter's shoulders.

"Yeah okay dad, we don't have to relive every embarrassing story about me when we have company do we?" Draco smiled adoringly at the girl and kissed her forehead.

"That's okay, I'm saving the best ones for your eighteenth birthday."

"Dad," Leshia laughed and she lunged her expert fingers into the groves between Draco's ribs – after years of rough and tumble, this girl had the art of tickling her father down to a tee; something her mother was yet to master.

"Okay okay," Draco quickly conceded and he squirmed away so as not to spill his drink. "You win." Leshia grinned triumphantly, before she dropped down next to her friends on one of the sofas. What ensued was half an hour of generic good times, in which the girls felt such a feeling of well-being it was almost easy to forget that one member of their ensemble was missing: Lavender, Rachel's mother. Of course it stung Rachel a little, but Ron was on it, and doted especially upon his oldest child in order to make her forget, if only temporarily that her mother and father's marriage was in tatters.

By the time the clock struck five thirty the girls were reluctant to tear themselves away, but they were going to need all the time they could get in order to make the preparations for their party.

"Well we're going to have to get going," Leshia announced after a comfortable silence.

"Oh yes, really, what could you possibly have to get to that is so important?" Draco inquired with an amused smile, yet cold eyes. Leshia stared at him warily, trying to keep her cool.

"They're having a little celebration in Gryffindor tower for all the Gryffindors that got onto the school teams," the girl replied her pre-rehearsed line.

"Shouldn't take longer than a few hours," Rachel added.

"I mean come on, there's like six of us on the teams, you have to grant us a little party for our troubles," Leshia continued, feeling empowered by their lies. For one moment it looked as though even Draco believed her, and after a few moments he nodded, giving leave for the girls to scurry out, promising that they would be back in a few hours. Draco stared at the door long after they'd gone.

"You shouldn't be such an old fart Malfoy," Ron chuckled happily, briefly attracting Draco's raised eyebrows in his direction.

"Excuse me?" the blonde man asked slowly.

"Why did you let them go if you're going to stare holes through the door waiting for them to come back?" Harry added amusedly.

"They're up to something," Draco announced eventually. "And until I know what it is, I'll let them carry on with it."

"So they're up to something," Ron countered. "It's Halloween, let them let their hair down for once." Once more Draco stared at the redheaded man with bemusement and warning in his handsome face.

"You're not the one who has to deal with them 'letting their hair down' on a daily basis Weasley."

"Draco," Hermione interrupted, seeing her husband's mood was balancing on a knife-edge. "Worry about the girls later, I'm sure they're not doing anything too bad. I mean we haven't caught wind of anything have we?"

"That's why I'm worried," Draco sighed; fearing that whatever the girls had planned and carried out was so bad, they'd worked their fingers to the bone trying to keep it secret from the teaching body. After a shake of his head, a smile worked its way onto Draco's face and he glanced up at Ron. "You really _are_ crap at being the bad cop aren't you?"

XXX

"Wish me luck," Leshia told her friends with a nervous grin on her face as she inspected the insides of their relocated vanishing wardrobe. Stood beside the great lake on the Potter Estate on this thankfully clear evening, the wardrobe looked more menacing than ever; particularly as Leshia was putting her life in her own hands in order to test its efficacy now they had tried their own shrinking and enlarging magic on it. Yes it had survived Draco's tampering, he a wizened Wizard with more experience than these three put together, but would it have made it through the haphazard charms Katie had subjected it to.

"Leesh please don't," Katie begged quietly. Leshia rolled her eyes and grinned at her friends, before she pulled the door shut behind herself.

'I don't feel any different,' the girl pondered to herself while she waited the full minute she had allocated to the transporting process.

"Here goes nothing," the girl exhaled breathily and after shutting her eyes tightly she shoved the door firmly. "Yes!" she crowed when she found herself in and amongst the rubble they had gathered for their party. Without any further ado the girl reached out and crammed as much as she could fit into the wardrobe, before she pulled the door shut behind herself. Katie and Rachel had not moved from their positions beside the wardrobe; both and their hands clasped in hope and fear, which instantly flew apart and found their way round Leshia's neck the moment the girl appeared through the wardrobe once more.

"Katie you beauty," Leshia crowed happily and she hugged the raven-haired girl firmly. "You're bloody fantastic you know that?" Katie blushed bright crimson while Rachel started lugging the decorations out of the cupboard.

"Come on you two, we've got less than an hour to set up. The bands will be here in like forty minutes. Get a move on!" Rachel called to her friends and within no time the girls were heaving large tables around, setting up fairy lights and lanterns, propping up scary Halloween decorations, laying out vast platters of food and barrels of drink, spreading out cushions, blankets and chairs for their guests, lighting bonfires and setting up a small stage for their performers. The lakeside became transformed into a party heaven and as quarter to seven rolled by the girls were more than pleased with themselves.

"This is going to be better than we thought," Leshia sighed contentedly, giving a pile of thick woolly coats (should the guests get cold) beside the wardrobe an approving nod.

"Come on, let's go get the bands," Rachel said happily, grinning at Katie, who would be remaining behind to enchant the pumpkin lanterns to float above the venue – very tricky magic she had been studying for a very long time.

"Be good," Leshia called after the raven-haired girl as she and Rachel disappeared into the wardrobe leaving Katie chuckling; as if _she_ was the one who needed _that_ warning, there went the two most mischievous girls in the whole of England.

Once they had materialised in the room of requirement Leshia and Rachel bolted to the door and flung it open just as Rodeo and Parys had appeared with a dozen pupils in tow.

"Hey, where'd that door come from?" Parys asked curiously, before he was quite unceremoniously dragged in by the scruff of his neck.

"No time, come on," Leshia told the assortment of newcomers. "I'm sorry to rush everybody, but we can't be seen," she continued to tell the band members as they filed past her, looking curiously into the room they'd never seen before.

"Is this where you're holding the party?" Jake Thomas, a sixth year Hufflepuff who was the lead singer of the _Rocking Harpie Appreciation Band_ a favoured Hogwarts performing party if there ever were one, asked disappointedly.

"No, it gets better than this," Leshia called to him from her position at the door.

"Come on everyone, right this way," Leshia urged and she started to lead the train of dawdling people toward the wardrobe. As the last of them entered the room Leshia pulled the door shut, only to be met by Rodeo's curious eyes inches from hers when she spun around to face the room.

"Rodes," Leshia exclaimed and she pushed the boy who had crept up on her. "Don't do that."

"Where are we Leshia?"

"That my good friend, is none of your concern," the girl sang cheerfully, before she rushed from his side to the wardrobe where Rachel was trying, and failing, to lure the performers into the wardrobe. "Look guys," she called to them, drawing their attention onto herself. "This wardrobe will take us to where we're going, to where the party is being held. Everyone invited to tonight's party is going to have to use it at some point. You lucky lot get to be the first."

Rather than pacifying the rowdy teenagers, Leshia's little speech only fuelled their confusion and concern, so after a brief nod to Rachel the redhead girl shut the doors behind herself. While the teenagers continued to murmur about 'mad third years' Leshia waited patiently while she counted out three minutes, then on cue she opened the door to reveal the empty wardrobe. The murmuring promptly stopped.

"Now then, who's next?" As one the group surged forward and Leshia started supervising their passage through the wardrobe. With so many large young men it took a long time to get them all through, but finally Leshia found herself alone with Rodeo and Parys, who were watching her with nothing short of awe.

"I don't know how you pulled this off," Rodeo finally exclaimed breathily. "But you _rock_!" Leshia grinned proudly at her friends.

"Boys, you aint seen nothing yet!"

XXX

Laughter rang out from the chambers behind the painting of the newlywed couple. Laughter that simply oozed affection and joy. The parents were having a good time to say the least, as they had now enjoyed Hermione's delightful cooking and had moved onto the after dinner drinks. The good old days were being revisited via anecdotes, fond teasing and group remembering, and all of them were feeling a little giddy with the time that had passed (and the alcohol they had consumed).

Into this hive of woozy fun the girls reappeared, acting as though they hadn't just been at the party of the century where they hadn't been able to move without being praised down to the ground. In fact, it had taken their entire collective will power to drag themselves away from their more-than-successful Halloween bash, but needs must and all that.

"What's going on?" Leshia asked warily when she saw the drunken expressions on her parents faces – she could not know that Hermione's drunkenness was not actually so and she was merely sharing in the silliness of her friends' inebriation.

"We should be asking you that question," Draco told his daughter brusquely, before he reached out an arm to the girl. She dutifully approached his side, where she was wrenched down onto the sofa into the crook of his arm. "Have a good time did you at this Gryffindor party of yours?"

"A very good time actually," Leshia replied truthfully. "Best time of my life, which is why we're going to have to go back at some point."

"I thought you said it would only be a few hours?" Hermione enquired – fully on the ball, as she hadn't drunk a drop.

"That's what we thought," Katie explained confidently (impressing Leshia and Rachel no end). The success of the party and the praise they had received had empowered Katie to a new level of mischief making, so much so that now she had no qualms about lying to her parents about the raving party taking place at their lakeside.

"Turns out some of the seventh years have started conjuring butter beer and treats, so now everyone's in full-on party mode," Rachel explained, taking a seat beside her dad.

"Really?" Harry asked dubiously. "How very clever of them."

"Yeah that's what we thought," Katie replied in a very un-Katie like manner. Even Rachel and Leshia turned to stare at her in surprise as the cocky words escaped the bespectacled girl's mouth.

"Anyway," Leshia carried on breezily, trying to pretend that there wasn't a Katie doppelganger in the room. "I think everyone's making up for the fact that there's no ball this year." Draco stared the girl coolly in the eye.

"Right," he finally announced.

"Yeah, see, we're not the only ones who throw parties around here," Leshia said happily, before she reached out to the table where some fruit pies lay on a beautiful platter. Her friends gave her just about enough time to finish the small cake before they jumped to their feet with Leshia in pursuit.

"Off so soon?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Well we want to get back, it's a wicked party," Rachel lied effortlessly. Seeing their parents' expressions weren't going to change from suspicious to more accommodating, the girls made a quick escape and sprinted back through the corridors to the room of requirement. Everyone had by now adhered to their strict meeting times and had been chaperoned through to the venue. So by the time the girls got back to the party they found it positively heaving with music, chatter, dancing and fun.

"You guys are legends!" a seventh year Ravenclaw boy the girls had never met suddenly roared at them the moment they appeared.

"Uh, thanks," Leshia managed before she disentangled them from the young man's path toward the refreshments table where a gaggle of third years had assembled. Happy faces glistened under the fairy lights and for a moment the girls felt a true feeling of selfless joy: they had made these youngsters this happy…it was all worth it.

"Enjoying yourselves?" Katie announced loudly when they reached their friends' sides. Rodeo nodded enthusiastically, his bright adoring eyes meeting Katie's.

"I think this is your best one yet," the bohemian boy announced proudly.

"Yeah, and we didn't think _anything_ could top last year's party," Parys added cheerfully. "But I mean think about it, we're not actually _at_ school right now are we? It's so bloody brilliant I can't even express it in words."

"Okay Parys," Leshia chuckled and she slung her arm round him. "No more Butterbeers for you." The youngsters laughed heartily and took a moment to enjoy their youth and just being, before suddenly they found themselves being dragged toward the dance floor (area of lawn that had organically grown into a dance floor in front of the stage) by various other third years.

Leshia didn't think she could get any happier as she found herself sandwiched between Rachel, Parys and Rodeo, manically spinning around to some quick and quirky song being performed by the _Rocking Harpie Appreciation Band_. She, like her parents, was succumbing to the giddiness of the evening, and how could she not? When all around her appreciative youngsters many years older than herself were beaming at her in thanks. Life was good.

That is, until the upbeat music suddenly made way for the slow rhythm of a piano and a cello. Everyone looked up to see the seamless change had made way for the all-girl band _Hoods and Capers_ who were now playing their slowest number, ensuring couples all over the dance floor were hooking up to dance the song out.

"Oh no," Leshia groaned amusingly, but her mirth was soon to change into horror when before her very eyes Katie marched right up to Rodeo and posed him the question,

"Will you dance with me?" Long after Rodeo had mumbled his yes and the pair and disappeared off into the gently swaying crowds Leshia, Rachel and Parys still stared dumbstruck at the spot where 'it' had happened.

"I have to go get a drink," Leshia suddenly exclaimed, a strange choking sound accompanying her voice.

"Want me to come with you?" Rachel quickly asked, but she didn't get a response, as Leshia had disappeared from their sides. Stumbling past the romantic movement of the dancers, Leshia finally managed to free herself from their grasp, falling upon the refreshments as though she hadn't seen a drink in years. Once the shuddering had subsided with the steady flow of a large tankard of pumpkin juice Leshia leant heavily against the table and stared out over the dancing youngsters. She couldn't help the heavy sigh that escaped her.

"_You_, of all people, should be on seventh heaven right now," the voice of Owen Gabriel came, before the tall young man appeared at Leshia's side, leaning back against the table beside her, his hand resting against hers on the table. Just his very touch caused a lightning bolt of sheer insanity to flood through Leshia's body, and despite herself, she twitched. "So tell me, why are you sulking over here in the loser section?"

"Owen," Leshia complained tiredly.

"No seriously, what could possibly be so bad?" the youth persisted, jostling Leshia's nerves with no restraint.

"I don't…"

"I won't go away until you tell me."

"But I…"

"I bet you anything it's not so bad."

"Rodeo's dancing with Katie!" the girl blurted out sounding pained, before she flung her hands up to her face to conceal her mortification: it sounded so benign when spoken aloud. At her side though, Owen had gone a little quiet.

"So?" he finally asked with a frown. "Holsson's a fool if he picked Potter over you…"

"No Owen, it's not like that. I don't _like_ Rodeo…"

"Sure Leshia," the tall boy sighed, before he managed to muster up a charming smile for the girl. "Thanks for inviting me, this is a great party." With one hand raised towards the girls face, as though he wanted to stroke her cheek, Owen suddenly thought better of it and flung the same hand to the back of his head, where he nervously rubbed his hair.

"You're welcome," Leshia replied sounding put out. Why on earth was Owen behaving peculiarly now? Without another word the boy strolled off, his usually held high head hanging in some sort of bad mood. Leshia stared after him incredulously. Why did she have such strange male friends? Feeling tired of confusing hormones and young men that didn't make sense Leshia suddenly pushed herself from the refreshments table and headed across the party to where Jaime and Eliot Wood, a set of twins in second year Leshia was quite friendly with, were commandeering a pile of cushions with their friends. The blonde haired party instigator was more than welcome at their gathering and so Leshia was soon set back to rights by their amusing shenanigans and anecdotes.

XXX

Katie's heart must have been going at a million beats a minute the raven-haired girl felt, as she and Rodeo ambled up the lawns towards the house, their hands loosely entwined in the divide between them. How she'd picked up the nerves to offer him a tour of her house she could only wonder at, but here she was, about to lead him into her entrance hall.

"Your house is absolutely huge," Rodeo awed sounding very impressed.

"Yeah, it's okay," Katie replied with a demure shrug. Rodeo turned his dashing smile on her.

"You don't have to be modest. It's okay to admit you've got a damn cool house all right?" The raven-haired girl grinned gleefully and nodded.

"Okay, my house is pretty damn cool." With one last worried glance over her shoulder at the party down at the lake, Katie pushed open the French doors into the hallway. Rodeo's whistling sound indicated he was now even more impressed than before. Slowly, Katie led him of a tour of the downstairs rooms, giggling whenever the young man seemed to show genuine glee or surprise at something so mundane as the enchanted grandfather clock made in the same fashion as the Weasleys' clock, or the knitting needles gently knitting away in the corner at an enormous scarf (a Christmas present for Hagrid – Ginny felt if she started now she might finish it by the time Christmas crawled by). Rodeo of course, was not used to wizarding households, and had only visited Parys' house once.

"I would love to live here," the young man sighed contentedly, before he wandered over to a mantelpiece in the hall lined with wizarding pictures. He chuckled when he saw pictures of Katie as a little girl, and his adoration for her grew. However, before he could come to terms with his attachment to the girl, a picture threw him for six. There, in a cherished wooden frame stood a picture of Katie, with her two best friends Rachel and Leshia when they were eight years old. It had been taken down at the same lake dozens of students were now congregating by, in a summer that seemed an age away now. In this picture Rachel and Leshia were clowning around while Katie stood shyly in the corner of the picture. Leshia was simply divine and for a moment Rodeo's heart ached a little. His very actions were cutting off any chances he would ever have with that girl…

"Want to see upstairs?" Katie asked loudly, when she noticed Rodeo's gaze falling on the picture of the childhood friends. Rodeo's eyes spun guiltily onto Katie's and for a moment he wanted nothing more than to run back to the party and pretend nothing had happened, but something deep within him was forcing him forward on this path, was making him place his arms around Katie's shoulders, was urging him to lean forward and kiss her.

The sound of running footsteps broke the pair apart and they turned guiltily on the door just as it opened revealing Rachel's bemused face.

"Leesh's just come back from Hogwarts, the parents are on the move! We've got to get everyone out of here!" the girl cried out, eliciting sudden bursts of energy from both of the kissers, who followed Rachel back to the party where Leshia was already shepherding people through the wardrobe.

"We have to stall them!" Leshia exclaimed to her friends the moment they appeared at her side; she didn't even notice how guilty Katie looked, such was her concern that they were about to get caught.

"We'll go, Katie can stay here and clean up. She's the best at that sort of stuff anyway," Rachel said firmly.

"I agree," Leshia said and she glanced to Katie, only now noticing how red the girl was. "Are you alright?" she asked with a wrinkled brow of confusion. "You're like bright red."

"I'm fine. Get going for God's sake, before we end up getting locked in some tower somewhere for the rest of our lives." The girls didn't need warning twice and quite promptly they jumped the queue and caught the next wardrobe-load of people back to Hogwarts. The room of requirement was full of guests milling around, as they had been strictly told to wander out every five minutes in no more than fives, so as not to attract any unwanted attention. Once more Leshia and Rachel jumped the queue and they darted out heading straight for Leshia's parents quarters.

"What exactly are we going to do?" Rachel panted. "I mean how are we going to stall them?  
"We'll think of something," Leshia panted back. "If push comes to shove, the last resort is to say something that'll really get us in trouble, because seriously, any trouble is better than the trouble we'll be in if we get caught."

It would seem that for now salvation was going to play a tricky game with them, as upon rounding the last corner Leshia and Rachel bumped straight in none other than Professor Snape.

"What are you two doing out of bed? It's gone midnight," the shrewd old professor barked at the girls. Leshia, a fast thinker and also a sucker for punishment suddenly got an idea that would no doubt offer plenty of stalling time.

"What's it to you?" the girl asked simply, meeting the potion master's incredulous gaze with a cocky one of her own.

"Um Leesh…"

"Why I never," Snape gasped. "You are simply unbelievable Miss Malfoy…"

"Sorry, but I really don't have time for this," Leshia interrupted tiredly, and with one last apologetic look to Rachel she strode off towards her parents chambers. Rachel stared up at Snape with wide-eyes, finally having worked out Leshia's plan, but worried she had not the courage to follow.

"Not one step," the potions master began furiously, but Rachel had resigned herself to her fate now, and with a head held high, she waltzed after her friend. "You two, hold it right there!" But the girls didn't heed him and by now they'd reached the portrait, where Leshia reached out and opened the painting. It swung open to reveal Ron, coat on and hand stretched out to open the portrait.

"Rachel," he crowed cheerily, more than a little drunk by now. "I was just coming to find you." The smile was soon wiped off his face when the white furious expression of Severus Snape slid into view. "Professor Snape," Ron announced in alarm; still wary of the old professor, especially when he had an expression like _that _on his face.

"I'm glad that you're here," Snape hissed furiously. "So that we can discuss your daughter's behaviour and her future at this school." Rachel looked to Leshia with panicked eyes, who simply shook her head as if to say 'he's bluffing'. Hearing the potion master's displeasure Draco jostled his friends out the way to get to the doorway. Upon seeing the scene in front before him he felt he'd much rather have stayed behind to finish his bottle of whiskey, but fatherhood took no breaks, not when hellions like Leshia were your daughter.

"What's happened?"

"Nothing's happened," Leshia exclaimed angrily, acting for the sake of dragging this out to the fullest extent.

"I wasn't asking you," Draco countered.

"Snape's picking on us again, isn't he Rach?" Leshia urged, eliciting a minute nod from her redhead friend.

"Why I never!" the old man exploded. "Such cheek and such _lies_!"

"Enough," Draco raised his voice, drawing in the respect and reverence this tone demanded. "Leshia get inside, Severus I'll speak to you later."

"But I demand…"

"Later," Draco repeated darkly. With one last furious glare at the back of Leshia's head, accompanied by mouthed insults the old potions master would never dare utter aloud, especially within hearing range of the girl's unpredictable father, Severus Snape spun on heal and stormed down the corridor.

"I think we'd better go," Harry said tactfully, trying to sidestep around an astonished Ron. Now Leshia realised the error of her plan: why on earth would Katie's parents stay if she and Rachel were in trouble?

"See I told you," Leshia muttered to Rachel, spluttering out the first words that came to mind. Rachel looked to Leshia in surprise, what was the blonde girl on about?"

"Told her what?" Ginny asked.

"I knew we'd get in trouble for Katie, didn't I say? It's not fair!" Leshia grumbled and she stalked inside the chambers with everyone staring after her in complete and utter confusion. Only Draco remained cool with his wits about him: Leshia was up to something, he could feel it in his bones. With sufficient enough of a reason to stay and find out what Leshia was going on about, everyone traipsed back into the chambers to find Leshia had locked herself in the bathroom.

"Leshia?" Hermione called out worriedly, her hands stroking the door that separated her from her seemingly upset daughter. "Darling, please come out and explain, we won't be angry, I promise."

"No! You can't understand!" Leshia cried back.

"What happened?" Ginny was now questioning a completely blank-faced Rachel. "Is Katie okay?" Rachel gabbled for words, realising she was now dropped in right in the deep end. Leshia might have been winging it, trying everything she could think of to keep Harry and Ginny in the chambers, but Rachel had nothing to go on, she didn't know what to do.

"She's dropped Leshia right in it," the girl finally managed.

"Rach!" Leshia complained from inside her bathroom hideout. "Don't!"

"Why, what's she done?" Harry asked worriedly.

"It's about her and Rodeo…"

"Rachel!" This time Leshia sounded genuinely angry and after a click of the door the girl reappeared looking at her best friend with wide eyes as if to say 'what are you playing at?'

"Rodeo? Who's Rodeo?" Harry demanded.

"It's this boy Leshia and Katie both like."

"Rachel…"

"No, they should know," Rachel challenged Leshia, who shut her mouth and glared at the red-haired girl.

"Stop it, both of you," Draco's voice finally rang out over the confusion and everyone turned to stare at him. "What have you done, why is Severus furious with you and where is Katie?"

"Well see…"

"_No_ Leshia!" Draco yelled angrily, quite tired of all the lies and dramatics going on. He could see straight through the playacting the girls were putting on. He could quite clearly see that they were stalling for time and had no idea what they were talking about. And quite frankly, he was ticked off with them. "You have five seconds to tell me what you've done or so help me God I'll…"

"Draco," Hermione gasped, surprised at the anger in her husband's face. She had never seen him this way…or at least, it had been a long time since she had seen her husband truly loose it, and never before had she seen such fury targeted at their young daughter. Leshia, well accustomed to Draco's anger (she had pulled quite some stunts in her younger days) didn't feel troubled by her father's anger.

"Yeah Draco, leave our girls out of this," Ron complained, walking to stand beside Rachel to drape his arm round her shoulders. Hermione now turned to Ron with a severe look; what had that tone of voice meant? The way Ron had expressed his sentiments made it clear that he felt Leshia was the cause of all the problems.

"And what do you mean by that Ronald?"

"Well it's just…"

"Please tell me," Hermione pressed angrily.

"Hermione," Ginny complained tiredly, intervening when she saw her stammering brother unable to defend himself against Hermione's steely determination. "He didn't mean anything by it."

"Yes he did."

"Well its just Leshia isn't it," Harry now tried tactfully. "She does tend to lead the girls astray, which is perfectly understandable with…you know…all things considering…" Now he'd done it. The girls had wanted to stall their parents, well now they had their wish, though when they saw the fight that suddenly erupted before their very eyes they were quite certain this wasn't what they had had planned, nor what they wanted. Even Draco was dragged into the brawl, stooping to a level he normally stayed clear of: bickering. Old wounds were being dragged to the surface, and Leshia and the girls became bartering chips in old battles. Feeling quite uncomfortable with their parents' fighting Leshia and Rachel backed away to the door unnoticed, until finally they darted out into the corridor beyond.

"What was all that about?" Leshia asked worriedly. Rachel shook her head with wide eyes, before the two girls took off toward the room of requirement. They reached it within record time and after pacing the corridor they burst into the newly appeared door. The room lay bare apart from the wardrobe stood in the lone shaft of light and after a brief panic over whether or not Katie might be mid-transporting the cupboard the girls realised there was nothing for it, and they slammed the doors shut behind themselves.

"I'm sorry," Leshia uttered heartily, seemingly shaken by their parents' fight.

"I'm sorry too," Rachel replied quickly, and in the darkness the girls clasped their hands together and squeezed tightly; if they could make it through the night without getting in trouble it would be a small miracle.

Quite suddenly the doors to the wardrobe were wrenched open and with a chorus of screams all round the girls managed to regain themselves when they saw it was just Katie, who had since replaced the wardrobe to its rightful place and was in the process of returning to Hogwarts.

"Are they on their way back?" Katie asked worriedly, as she joined the girls in the wardrobe and pulled the door tightly behind herself, blanking out her father's study.

"Not really," Leshia replied awkwardly.

"Why, what happened?" In the darkness Rachel and Leshia hung their heads.

"It's not really important," Rachel explained.

"All I want to do is get in bed and forget this night ever happened," Leshia groaned in the darkness.

"What, you didn't have a good night at the party?" Katie asked in surprise.

"It was alright. It's more what's happened tonight that's got me worried."

"Oh stop being such a worrywart Leshia," Katie laughed happily.

"Have you had a complete personality-transplant or something?" Rachel demanded.

"No! You two just have to stop freaking out; we threw a great party, we're on our way home and we're not going to get in trouble for it. What could go wrong?"

XXX

Draco watched his daughter dart from the room and felt personally insulted that she had left him in her purposely-made mess. She had wanted a distraction in order to get away with whatever she and her friends had concocted and he had taken the fall for it. Coolly he placed his glass down on the table and walked over to where Hermione was currently exclaiming,

"How _dare_ you insinuate that because of Draco's past Leshia is somehow going to turn out dark."

"They're playing us," Draco announced simply. "I can't believe they're using us."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked tetchily.

"They've waltzed in here, spun some bull to make us stall for time while they get away with whatever they've been running off to all night."

"Draco why do you have to read so much into every situation?" Ron demanded.

"Because Weasley I know my daughter, and she is just as calculating, sly and ruthless as you all think she is."

"Draco," Hermione cried out sounding hurt.

"I'm not saying that's all she is, but she _is_ capable of those things. Come on, if we follow them then we'll find out what they're up to."

"Follow them?"

"Yes Potter, follow them." Draco was already half-out the door, and with nothing else for it, the others promptly darted after him. They didn't speak as Draco stealthily led the way on the girls' trail. Leshia and Rachel were too busy panicking about the carnage they had caused to think they might be followed and didn't realise they led their parents right to the room of requirement. Once they had shut the door behind themselves the adults promptly followed, pushing it open, hoping to catch the girls in the act with whatever mischief they had caused, but what they found was so much more disturbing.

"Oh no," Draco managed, completely shaken by the wardrobe standing in the middle of the large empty room.

"They found it," Hermione whispered at his side, reaching out to wrap her arms round his. This was bad.

"You know what this means," Harry said sadly.

"They've been at your place all night," Ron replied.

"I dread to think," Ginny added.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked dolefully, looking up at Draco with sorrowful eyes. It was only a matter of time before Leshia found out about what happened in their sixth year at school.

"We have to remain a united front," Harry told his friends, mistakenly taking Hermione's question to mean all of them.

"We have to punish them equally," Ginny added. Draco turned on the couple with such a dark expression that Ginny actually stumbled back a little, in order the get away from the fury that lay in the handsome man's grey eyes.

"I will punish my daughter how I see fit," he finally stated sharply. "You have all made it abundantly clear tonight that you think I'm a bad influence on your children, so I wouldn't imagine you'd want to subject your precious innocent daughters to the punishment Leshia is going to receive for deceiving us and then using us to cover up for whatever it is they've done."

"Draco we didn't mean any of that," Ginny tried gently, seeing now how much they'd hurt Draco and feeling very bad for it. The young man however, wasn't listening, and he turned his head so as not to look upon his friends who had wounded him so.

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked meekly, feeling very saddened by the fact that Draco had seemingly forgotten that she was a part of Leshia's life too, and would also be entitled to have a say in the punishment of their daughter.

"What needs to be done," was all Draco responded, before he crossed his arms over his chest and stared darkly at the door of the wardrobe. A solemn mood swept over the five parents as they waited for their daughters to return, which, inevitably occurred sooner rather than later.

Muffled voices filled the room. The girls were back and if they strained their ears, the gathered parents could just about make out the words their children were speaking. Hearing Leshia's remorse at causing the problems back at Draco and Hermione's quarters may have softened her mother's anger, but Draco felt spurned on by it: if she had of thought it through then none of this would happen. Fie her and her reckless troublemaking. She had a brain, why didn't she use it?

Katie revealing what they had been up to all night as she told her friends was the icing on the cake,

"You two just have to stop freaking out; we threw a great party, we're on our way home and we're not going to get in trouble for it. What could go wrong?"

The looks on their faces might have been amusing if the circumstances weren't so grave, as the girls pushed the door open all set to waltz out into the room of requirement and head home for the night, but instead of finding the room deserted, they were instead met by their _highly_ bemused parents.

"Oh damn," Leshia finally exclaimed, sounding resigned to the fact that she was now in more trouble than she could ever remember finding herself in. Katie, much less used to being glared at in such a manner tried to back step into the back of the wardrobe and Rachel seemed to have lost the power of speech altogether, staring instead with very wide eyes at her disappointed father.

Draco and Leshia locked eyes for a long time, while Harry started on Katie and Ron started mumbling incomprehensibly at Rachel. Hermione was helpless but to watch as with some unspoken understanding Draco turned on heal and started walking out with Leshia hot on his tail, her head hanging in shame. Only after the father and daughter had exited the room did Hermione turn on Ginny, who had watched the Malfoy interaction very closely.

"Sorry," Ginny mouthed at her best friend, tears glistening in her eyes with everything that had passed and the sympathy she felt for her friend. Hermione nodded, she too with the makings of tears.

"Me too." With this she followed her family out, seeing Draco paused some way down the dark corridor hanging his head back, seemingly about to explode, and Leshia hanging back, very wary to approach her father in this state.

"Draco," Hermione called to her husband, finally finding her voice and the authority she too had over their child. "Not now. We'll deal with it in the morning." In the distance Draco barely nodded his head, before he continued storming down the corridor. Hermione walked straight past Leshia without even looking at her.

"Mum…"

"Go to bed Alecia," Hermione sighed. Tears automatically sprung from Leshia's eyes and she ran to catch up with her mother.

"I'm sorry!"

"It's too late, just go to bed."

"But I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't _want_ to hurt you!" The desperation in the girl's tone made Hermione's tears stream more freely and with a heartbreaking resolve she steamed on.

"I'll see you tomorrow, now do as you're told and go to bed!" Leshia stopped running and stared down at her feet in torment. "And no quidditch, not until we've decided what to do with you," Hermione called tearfully back over her shoulder, almost breaking into a run herself in order to get away from the heartbreak on Leshia's face.

"Mum…" the girl tried pathetically, but it was too late. Long after Hermione had faded from the corridor Leshia finally forced herself to retreat to Gryffindor tower where several of Leshia's peers were still milling about. Leshia's sudden appearance elicited a spontaneous and loud round of applause from the sleepy partygoers, but they promptly stopped when they saw Leshia's tears. Without a word to their worried expressions Leshia breezed through the room toward the staircase, her only goal being able to curl up in bed and drown away her sorrows with a Heaven Drop.

"Malfoy," Owen Gabriel finally spoke up, breaking the concerned silence. Leshia didn't turn around to heed him, but he still followed her undeterred. "Leshia wait, what happened?"

"For God's sake just leave me alone!" Leshia snapped before she was truly degraded to sobs. Owen watched her leave with a dark expression; who had done this to her? As if on queue running footsteps preceded the arrival of Rodeo and Parys, both of them looking up the girls' staircase in concern.

"Was that Leshia?" Rodeo asked worriedly. Owen very slowly turned to face the two boys, his hazel eyes seeming dark in his anger. The bohemian third year frowned at the taller boy. "What?"

"You tell me Holsson," Owen growled, approaching the younger boys. Rodeo back stepped slightly, shuffling out of the star-keeper's way. For a moment Owen stopped at Rodeo's level and stared darkly into his eyes. "You ought to watch your step." With this warning the older boy ascended the stairs in anger leaving Rodeo and Parys looking at one another in complete confusion.

XXX

Draco sat down heavily on the sofa, a full tumbler of whiskey in his hand and the half-empty bottle in his other. After downing the drink he filled it another two times and emptied them in much the same way before he settled on a more reasonable pace of consumption. By now Hermione had joined him, though she lingered by the doorway staring at Draco glumly.

"That's not the answer Draco," she told him eventually.

"Don't tell me what to do," the young man uttered darkly.

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do," Hermione complained passionately, before she crossed the room and snatched the glass and bottle away from her husband. "I just want you to remain conscious while we discuss this." Draco glared at his wife, but didn't attempt to retake his drink.

"What's there to discuss? She's out of control and it's all my fault…"

"Draco don't be like this. They didn't mean any of those things they said."

"Yes they did and secretly you agree with them. Face it! If I wasn't her father, if, if, if Krum was her dad then it would be a completely different story wouldn't it? She might actually listen if it weren't for her Goddamn Malfoy genes."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," Hermione snapped angrily, unwilling to allow Draco's emotions to rule the conversation. "We have a problem on our hands in that our daughter is running wild with absolutely no thought for anyone that gets in her way." Draco hung his head and his eyes drifted past the angry flames in the hearth.

"So what do you suggest professor? We can't make her care." Hermione sighed.

"She does care Draco, she cares a great deal, she just doesn't think."

"Oh don't tell me that girl cares, especially not if you're going to say she cares about us. She used us tonight; she used us in the worst possible way. Just like she used me to get what she wanted on this same night a year ago. Remember that? She just. Doesn't. Care." Hermione turned her wounded expression away from her husband, hoping that he didn't mean any of those words; surely he didn't feel their daughter was capable of such cruelty.

"Draco Leshia is only thirteen years old. She's young…she's foolish…don't give up on her, please…"

"I'm not giving up on her," Draco countered fervently. "Just because I could throttle her doesn't mean I'm casting her out to the wolves. She's our daughter and we're stuck with her." Hermione didn't rise to the bait as even she could hear the slight amusement in her husband's tone. "I don't know what to do with her Hermione…I'm frightened for her…what if it is my genes. What if she's like me?"

"And what's so bad about you?" Hermione demanded, her hand flying to her invisible bump. Draco hung his head and shook it slowly.

"I thought we'd got off lightly," Draco was continuing. "I thought your goodness had counteracted her inheritance from my side…but maybe I was wrong."

"Draco," Hermione moaned, feeling heartbroken by her husband's words.

"I should never have had children," Draco was continuing, though he stopped when a slight sob escaped Hermione's lips. "I don't regret having her for a moment, you understand that right?" he quickly added to cover up for the heartless words he'd just spoken. "You know that don't you? You know Leshia means more to me than…than anything!" Through her tears Hermione nodded, though she couldn't forget her husband's words, nor could she help but feel dismay at the growing life safe within her womb, another one of Draco's children he had no knowledge of yet. Her worst fears were being confirmed…Draco could never want another child.

"She's a teenager Draco," Hermione finally cried out crossly, her emotions differentiating into anger. "She's acting the way she is because she's thirteen, _not_ because she's a Malfoy."

"I know…"

"No you don't! Now I know you've been thrown by her finding the wardrobe and at some point we're going to have to deal with the fact that she might find out what happened in sixth year, but at the moment out principle concern is figuring out a fair punishment for Leshia."

"Can we lock her in the east tower?" Draco tried with a small smile on his face. Hermione was right, now was not the time to dwell on the events that happened in sixth year, Leshia hadn't found out about them yet.

"That tower's been derelict for years," Hermione countered amusedly.

"Exactly." The young woman giggled through the remainder of her tears and edged towards her husband, sitting down on the sofa beside him. "I told her she couldn't play quidditch tomorrow, that's a start at least."

"Hermione, I'm impressed, but I hate to tell you, she won't listen." Hermione frowned and nodded fervently.

"Oh yes she will," the young woman countered ardently, eliciting a snort of mirth from her husband. "If she does go…"

"Then what will you do?" The mood was passing, and the now broad smile on Draco's face started to ease Hermione's stretched nerves and started to mend her heartache.

"Well…she'll not know the trouble she'll be in."

"Okay, let's make a bet," Draco said cheerfully and he wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders. "We'll wait until after training tomorrow to approach her, and if she does as she's told and doesn't go, then we'll give her a light punishment for tonight's business."

"And if she does go?" Draco smiled darkly.

"Then she'll not know what's hit her."

XXX

Leshia woke earlier than her friends the next day, but felt she couldn't face the world yet, so she stayed in bed all morning with only Philly to keep her company. She didn't know that both Katie and Rachel were in similar states or that Nicole and Ashley, their dormitory-mates, had been excusing their absence to grateful well-wishers all morning. Lunchtime came and went leaving Leshia's stomach growling with a dilemma on her hands. It wasn't fair for her parents to ask her to sacrifice her place on the Hogwarts team. Yes they could punish her as much as they saw fit, she had behaved appallingly, but they weren't within their rights to stop her from playing quidditch surely? No other children at school were grounded when they misbehaved; the worst they ever got was a howler or two and then after some embarrassment they could get on with their daily lives. So surely it wasn't fair that Leshia had to suffer because her parents were teachers at the school?

Three was ticking nearer and nearer and with it Leshia's future on the Hogwarts team. The girl wondered for a moment what her parents would do if they heard she'd gone to the training after being told not to, but in all fairness the girl hadn't heard anything from her parents yet. How long was she going to have to wait for their verdict?

At ten to something snapped deep within Leshia; there was no way she was going to try so hard to get into the squad to only throw it away because of one night of naughty behaviour. Within moments the girl had dressed in the seemingly empty dormitory, but before she had reached the door with her broom slung over her shoulder a little voice called out to her,

"Leesh?" The girl stopped in the doorway and looked back into the room.

"Rach, is that you?" Quickly Leshia crossed the dormitory and peered round the closed drapes of Rachel's four-poster. Rachel looked quite pathetic, still dressed in her pyjamas and a gigantic Grandma Weasley knitted cardigan. Her face was blotchy from her tears and the sparkle was well and truly gone from her normally bright eyes. "Hi," Leshia managed comfortingly, and after depositing her broom on the floor the girl climbed onto the bed and pulled her best friend into the crook of her arm. "Have you been in here all day?" Rachel nodded pathetically.

"I haven't heard you leave either." Leshia grinned meekly and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't want to be seen right now," the blonde girl sighed. "Where's Katie?"

"Here," another pathetic voice came from the bed beside Rachel's.

"Hi Katie," both Leshia and Rachel offered grimly.

"Are you guys in big trouble?" Katie's disembodied voice next asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe. I've never seen my dad like that before. I don't think he loves me anymore," Rachel uttered pitifully.

"Don't be an idiot, of course he does," Leshia admonished.

"My parents shouted until my dad's voice went hoarse. I'm going to be punished over Christmas," Katie explained sadly. "It's going to be horrible."

"What about your parents Leesh?" Leshia forced a small smile onto her face.

"They're ignoring me," she finally managed with a lump in her throat. Rachel's face morphed into concern for her blonde friend. "I don't know what they're going to do. They told me no quidditch, but I have to."

"Leesh don't make things worse for yourself," Katie said firmly. Leshia smiled and shrugged her small shoulders.

"Things couldn't get any worse than they are right now and this is something I am not giving up on!" Rachel nodded in understanding, but Katie still seemed concerned.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

XXX

Leshia ran to make it to the quidditch pitch on time, managing to get there barely a few minutes late. Madam Hooch had the players doing warm-up laps and after giving Leshia a stern look nodded to the heavens to tell her to a get a move on and join her team mates. The short girl grinned apologetically at the teacher, before she clambered onto her broom and took to the skies.

After several laps and a tiring warm-up the players were granted a few minutes to have a drink and stretch before the proper training session began, which they had been warned, would be a tough one. Leshia instantly found herself at the centre of much unwanted attention.

"What was with you yesterday?" Rodeo demanded the moment he touched down beside Leshia. The girl stared at him tiredly, until finally she forced a smile onto her face.

"Nothing."

"No seriously, we heard you freak out in the corridor, something must have happened. And then we don't see you or any of the others all day? Seriously…"

"Rodeo for once can you just leave it?" Leshia complained.

"You heard the lady Holsson," the brusque voice of Owen Gabriel came moments before the tall boy strode up beside Leshia. The young girl glanced up at him tiredly, disbelieving of his protectiveness. Obviously the young man had some wires loose and that would explain his about-turn in personality.

"Owen! What are you doing?" Leshia complained.

"Is he bothering you again?" Owen demanded of the girl.

"What do you mean _again_?" Rodeo spluttered indignantly. "What the hell do you know about it anyway Gabriel? You don't even know Leshia!"

"You really are an idiot aren't you Holsson?" Owen countered angrily. "I mean I always thought you were a little slow, but to pick…"

"Owen stop it," Leshia interrupted sharply. "I don't need you to fight my battles and Rodeo, for once can you just stay out of my business, please?" After a highly exasperated glare at both boys Leshia stormed off to join Mila and the Weasley cousins, who immediately started lavishing praise on the young girl for the fantastic party she and her friends had pulled off the night before. Leshia allowed their words to drag her out of her mood a little, and so by the time Madam Hooch separated them into their various groups – seekers, keepers, beaters and chasers – in order to start skill based training she was in a much better mood for it. The seekers, she and Martin Lahara from Ravenclaw (a boy she had enjoyed a rivalry with in the past) were put to task outrunning each other catching training snitches, which was very tiring work due to the competitive rivalry that lay between the two top-class seekers. For half an hour the paid desperately to outdo the other and by the end of it Leshia was happy to say she had bested the boy who was much older than herself.

After this the seekers and beaters teamed up to discuss tactics and to practise certain set plays Madam Hooch was developing, followed by an intense period of mini-matches in groups of three in order to build up stamina. Leshia enjoyed this part of the training the most, as she got to be a pseudo-chaser and managed to score several goals; as a seeker she wasn't used to actively taking part in the game and as such she had a fantastically good time.

To round off the afternoon's grilling training session Madam Hooch set the two teams against one another in a full-scale game, which dragged on for a whole hour before Leshia finally sealed victory for her team by outplaying Martin Lahara to catch the snitch.

"Well done everyone," Madam Hooch called to her players as they gathered around her on the blustery pitch, sucking on water bottles greedily. "You've shown very promising progress today. I think for now we'll leave the teams as they are…"

"Um, miss?" Mila's hand was in the air.

"Yes Miss Evanovitch?"

"Are you saying you might change the teams round?" the young chaser asked worriedly. Madam Hooch smiled at her kindly.

"If I feel that I've put people in the wrong team, then yes, I might change them round a little." Leshia felt her chest tighten…so it wasn't certain that she was a Hogwarts first? "Now then, I'm happy to say that by and large everyone was punctual today. I expect this to continue throughout the term. We will hold training sessions three times a week. Two of the days may rotate, but I feel it's safe to say that this time will remain the same each week. Keep your eyes on the notice boards." With this the youngsters were excused; the firsts wandering off in a tight huddle the same as their counterparts in order to discuss this new turn of events. So, they were going to have to fight to keep their places in the squad?

On their way back to their respective common rooms Leshia's mind was far too involved in the discussion with her team to notice the two figures who had spent the last half and hour watching the training from the school walls. They had practically stumbled upon the two figures when Leshia finally realised who they were.

'Uh oh,' she gasped to herself when she saw the bemused expressions of her parents.

"I'll catch you guys up," Leshia told her friends Owen and Mila when they hung back to wait for the girl. After glancing worriedly at the girl's angry parents they nodded to their seeker and hurried off with the others back to the castle. Leshia watched them go with the most urgent feeling of wanting to run after them, before she crossed her arms across her chest and turned her defiant expression on her parents.

"I thought I told you 'no quidditch'?" Hermione finally broke the silence.

"I know, but after carefully considering it I didn't feel it was a fair thing to ask of me," the girl replied coolly. Hermione uttered an incredulous noise while Draco smiled dangerously.

"That, as a disobedient daughter is not your call to make little one," he countered in a steely tone, before him his young daughter grinded her teeth together in frustration.

"Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get onto that team?" the girl finally demanded. "You have no right to tell me that I can't go to training. I'll get kicked off the team!"

"Well the point is moot really," Draco stated, raising his voice slightly to try and regain control of the situation. After stewing in her own misery all night, he would expect the girl to be a little more submissive, yet here before him stood the fiery monster that was teenaged-Leshia-empowered-by-testosterone. Letting her play quidditch right before confronting her had been an error on his part, he could see that now.

"What do you mean?" Leshia asked with a slight frown of confusion.

"After today you won't be playing quidditch anymore. Not for the school team, not for Gryffindor, not even as part of PE," Draco continued firmly. Leshia's jaw dropped and for a moment her eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"You can't do that!"

"Oh yes we can, it's part of your punishment," Hermione added softly, to show that she and Draco posed a united front on this decision. It had come to this, the young woman secretly felt, they were alienating their daughter in the hope of taming her wild side…but surely no good could come of this? Draco had been adamant it was the only way to get her to calm down and behave, so Hermione had listened, though her heart screamed otherwise. Leshia would never forgive them for taking the joy out of her life.

"You know this is really rich," the girl finally managed, her small body shaking with pent up anger and upset.

"Oh yes, why is that?" Draco enquired coolly.

"Because if anyone deserves to be punished then it's you," the girl stated angrily, her eyes locking with her father's. Draco's brow lowered darkly, while Hermione's heart started thumping loudly; this was all wrong…no good could come of this.

"Draco…"

"What did you just say?" the tall man demanded dangerously. A lesser man might have run, but Leshia wasn't afraid. She knew things, and she wasn't going to back down.

"And I don't just mean for what you did in the past either. I'm talking about what you're doing now," the girl continued furiously.

"Alecia I will not…"

"No!" the young girl finally exploded. "_I_ will not!" Hermione hung her head so as to avoid seeing her young daughter's face contorted in hatred. How similar to her father she now seamed, and how terrifying…no good could come of this.

"Darling," Hermione tried soothingly, but her presence seemed completely irrelevant as neither husband nor daughter heeded her.

"You had better watch your tongue young lady," Draco growled darkly.

"No I won't! I'm not going to let you ruin my life when you're in over your head dad. I know what you've been doing. I _know_ about you, so just get out of my life! From now on you're nothing to me. From now on both of you are nothing!" Anger and pain were fuelling the young girl's words, but that is all she had to go on at the moment. There was no room in her heart for compassion for Hermione's tears, nor concern for the fury on Draco's face…all she had left was anger at being treated this way.

An eerie silence swept over the family as even the winds shifted directions to avoid coming close to the heartbreaking scene. Without warning Leshia suddenly turned on heal and started marching off, ignoring with all her might the sounds of her mother crying in her wake. At the moment, she really couldn't care less. Yes she had nothing but pity for her mother, Hermione after all had no idea about Draco's past treachery, or his current sticky situation, but why had she let Draco call the shots? How could her mother, how could any mother, take from her child the one thing they held dearest of all? Yes Leshia had behaved badly and yes she agreed she ought to have been punished…but to take away quidditch…to fail to understand the importance of getting onto the Hogwarts team, well, it was unforgivable in the child's eyes.

"Damn it Draco I _told _you!" Hermione cried accusingly and she turned from her husband in anguish. "How could I have let you be so foolish…"

"I'm the one being foolish?" Draco demanded and he threw his hands into the air. "I give up!" he yelled into the darkening skies. "I can't deal with any of this. Leshia wants to disown us? That's fine with me!"

Long after the tempestuous young man had vacated the field the sorrowful mother stayed and wept.

XXX

For the second time within twenty-four hours Leshia burst into the common room with tears streaming down her cheeks. Anger this time however, radiated from every groove of her tightly scrunched up face and after yesterday's performance everyone gave her a very wide birth. No one blocked her path to the dormitory. Only once she had slammed the door behind herself did she have to answer for her actions.

"Leesh? What happened?" came Rachel's voice, as the redhead rolled out from behind her drapes with a look of concern on her face.

"Nothing," Leshia growled, before she made an extremely exasperated sound. "Ugh, everything! It's my stupid parents. They told me I couldn't play quidditch anymore." Rachel's eyes went wide, much as Leshia's had done at the announcement of such news.

"What?" she fumbled for words. "What did you do?"

"Well what could I do? I did what I had to, I disowned them," the girl explained obviously and she threw off her quidditch robes and started changing into something a little more comfortable. Rachel was stammering in shock.

"You what?" she finally managed.

"Like I said, I told them they meant nothing to me anymore."

"Well why the heck did you do that? You're just shooting yourself in the foot aren't you?" Leshia gave her best friend a hard look.

"They started this, not me," she finally complained, before a heavy sigh escaped her lips and she dropped down onto her trunk. "Rachel it's all so messed up. Nothing's going the way it should." Rachel furrowed her brow in concern and sat down beside her friend on the heavy trunk.

"It'll be okay, everything will work out in the end." Leshia snorted in disbelief, but nodded all the same.

"I don't know what's happening to me. It's like I can't control anything anymore, and I don't know how to stop it." Rachel grinned cockily at her friend and wrapped an arm about her shoulders in a chummy sort of way.

"That, my dear friend is the beauty of being a teenager."

XXX

And so it was that Leshia officially fell out with her parents. It was a subtle change only those who had contact with the girl and her parents noticed, but what a stark difference it made to lessons. Professor Malfoy seemed quite without his bravado, slowly sinking into a state of grim acceptance that for the second time in her life his daughter was flat-out ignoring him and pretending she was no relation of his. Professor Granger was less acclimatising to the new state of things and tried her very hardest to get Leshia to engage in her lessons, always met by complete indifference from the teenager. It was heartbreaking for the young woman, and despite Draco's assurances that eventually Leshia would come to her senses, the mother couldn't get over it in her over-emotional state.

Leshia herself was having a very bad week, which started when she read her tealeaves for their divination homework and all the signs pointed to Leshia having a dark cloud over her future, which apparently meant certain misery. Highly bemused by the whole thing Leshia had scrapped the ominous readings and instead made up some ridiculous improbable tale.

It was a week fraught with quidditch practices, with both Gryffindor team and the ISQT squad putting demands on Leshia's time. Gryffindor's first game versus Slytherin was coming up at the weekend and due to the excitement over the ISQT tryouts the team hadn't practised nearly as much as Mila would have liked – if Ryan could only see them now, he'd blow a gasket! Training with the old gang was a breathe of fresh air and even though Mila pushed them hard, Leshia enjoyed herself immensely, which was more than could be said for Wednesday's Hogwarts team practice. Leshia couldn't quite describe what had her so worked up, but every time she laid eyes on Owen she started to feel a little prickly. Why was he hanging around that Val girl so much? The training itself was difficult and Martin Lahara managed to best Leshia several times due to her lack of concentration.

"Try and make it hard for Hooch to swap you off the team won't you Leesh?" Mila told her seeker sternly when Leshia missed an easy opportunity to beat Lahara to the snitch.

"Oh just leave me alone," Leshia grumbled and she flew down to the ground to gulp greedily at her water, where she came across Val Beckett fixing a bent twig on her Firebolt 360.

"Hi," the beautiful Ravenclaw girl called to Leshia, eliciting a jerky nod from the youngster. "Awesome party at the weekend Leshia. Thanks so much for inviting us. My friends and I had a blast!" Once more Leshia nodded sharply, her slate eyes displaying a distinct lack of warmth. Val faltered in her extension of friendship. "Um, sorry to ask, but could you please pass me the trimmer, over there by my bag. I'd get it, but as you can see…" The girl trailed off and indicated her rather immobile position from under the broom she was trying to fix. Leshia glanced over to the bag and after a withering look she paced over to it, grabbed the trimmers and then marched over to Val. After considering flinging them at the beautiful young woman Leshia scolded herself for such a distasteful notion and held out the trimmers, which were soon taken from her hand.

"Thanks," Val offered, trying one last attempt at kindness before she closed the book on Alecia Malfoy for good. Val, though beautiful and lovely to those she deigned good enough for her graces, was one of those people who once scorned was lost for good. Without a word Leshia turned from her and mounted her broom, shooting back into the sky to take on Martin Lahara once more. Down on the ground Valerie Beckett scowled.

'Ruddy midget,' the beautiful girl thought to herself, before she went about lovingly trimming her Firebolt twigs.

Leshia's week didn't get any better, with Thursday delivering her a D in her Runes homework from a very disbelieving Hermione. When asked to remain behind to discuss the terrible grade Leshia merely shook her mother off saying,

"It's really none of you're concern Miss. You're my teacher, why do you care what I get?" That night when Draco had come home to find his wife in tears he'd felt the incredible urge to hunt down something small and blonde and shake some sense into the girl. He had enough on his plate trying to contain the risk that was threatening to expose his sordid past without his home life dissolving into shreds.

The weekend finally arrived without warning and Leshia found herself walking out onto the Quidditch pitch to the chorus of a few hundred hands beating together fervently in the rain. The most anticipated game of the season had arrived: the bloodbath between Gryffindor and Slytherin. And what a day for it! Black clouds circled the pitch like vultures circling a poor beast on its last legs, dousing the occupants of the pitch with an endless supply of freezing rain. Mila had offered her team an inspiring speech very much in the form of the ones Ryan Lofting used to deliver his champion team, and yet still Leshia couldn't muster the energy to feel excited about the match.

The tension rippling between the two teams was electric as they walked out together. The Mills twins seemed less threatening than usual after Leshia had now played with them instead of against them, yet they still glared furiously at the girl when they caught her watching them longer than was considered acceptable. After glaring back at the tall young men Leshia looked up the line-up till her eyes fell on Tara Heeley the Slytherin seeker. Leshia didn't rate the other girl as a player and quite frankly, was anticipating a boring match that she couldn't wait to get to the end of. Madam Hooch gave the two teams a quick warning to play fair, before she blew her whistle and everyone rose to the skies.

Immediately the superiority of the Gryffindor team became evident, with Owen saving any attempt the Slytherins made on goal, and the team of fantastically fast chasers scoring goal after goal. Their training had paid off and now they were putting to good use some of Madam Hooch's tactics. Leshia's mind was wandering as she watched Owen making save after save. He really was a fantastic player. So why was she feeling so hostile towards the boy?

"Leesh watch it!" The warning preceded the wincing blow by a few mere moments and for at least ten seconds the world had turned into a hoard of glistening sparkles in a sea of black. Warm trickling down Leshia's temple revealed that the bludgers had broken her skin.

"Are you okay?" a far away echoing voice broke through the ringing in Leshia's ears. When the girl offered no reply Tom Weasley, one of Gryffindors unrelenting beaters, flew up to meet the girl and protect her from the persistent bludgers, which seemed dead set on disbrooming Leshia. "Wake up Leesh, you're daydreaming up here," the redhead cousin of Rachel and Katie told the small seeker, who seemed to be finally coming to from her encounter with the bludgers.

"Okay," the girl assured Tom before she looked up to see Tara Heeley was hovering up the other end of the pitch. Feeling insecure that she might not catch up should the snitch pop up at the other end of the pitch Leshia made a lightning quick charge over to hover above the Slytherin seeker.

Something was wrong, as Leshia soon discovered when the whole world lurched to the left and she had to grab her broom tightly to stop herself from falling off. From the stands people gasped when they saw the girl almost throw herself from her mount; what was wrong with her? She was hanging still mid-air and yet she looked as though she was trying to hold on to a bucking horse for dear life. With spinning vision that was swimming with white blotches Leshia just about managed to look up and see Tara Heeley was diving for something.

"Oh no!" the blonde girl uttered, before she threw herself into a dive. Spiralling for some strange reason Leshia was finding it hard to keep hold of her broom, and when she tried to counter the spiralling she found herself turning even more. What was going on? Tara Heeley by now was clumsily pursuing a lazy snitch, with an incapacitated Leshia far behind, unable to keep hold of her broom.

"What's wrong with Leesh?" Rachel demanded of Katie on the sidelines; both clutching their hands to their mouths in horror.

"I think that blow to her head's done something to her," Katie finally replied worriedly. "Oh come on Leshia! Get a grip, you can do it!" Her cries were lost on the cruel rainy winds and in the middle of the pitch Leshia seemed to have regained some sort of control over her senses and she looked up to see her competitor was down the other end of the pitch hand outstretched.

"No!" Leshia cried out, and after bending down low over her broom she set off into a daredevil sprint across the pitch, artfully swooping in and out of the players mid-field. People 'oohed' in appreciation of this show of skill and they temporarily forgot about the girl's spiralling out of control for no apparent reason.

"Just a little further," Leshia urged herself on as the corners of her vision started blurring due to the cracking pace she was flying and the blow to her head slowly staking its claim on her consciousness. Tara Heeley, still ineptly swooping about the end of the pitch trying to catch the snitch saw Leshia approaching and her heart skipped a beat, if she didn't catch the golden ball soon then the Gryffindor legend would snatch it from under her nose.

"Come on Leshia!" Rachel and Katie screamed loudly, their eyes on the scoreboard, which read 150-0 to Gryffindor.

"She's going to make it!" Parys crowed at their side in triumph.

"Come on Leesh!" Rodeo bellowed beside him. Not hearing their cries, yet knowing the school's eyes were on her, Leshia powered on. Her fingers started tentatively leaving her broom handle in order to reach out to grab the snitch from between Tara Heeley's flailing hands…

XXX

"Ouw…" Muffled voices penetrated the black dimness of Leshia's nightmare. Everything hurt, and when she tried to open her eyes she realised in horror that they already were open. "I can't see," she vaguely managed to splutter.

"Calm down Miss Malfoy," came the strangely disembodied voice of Madam Pomfry. "Just take a few moments to steady yourself, you've had a nasty accident."

"What?" Leshia stammered and she started to scramble in the dark, trying to sit up right, yet feeling many restraints on herself holding her down.

"In five seconds you'll feel right as rain, I promise," the healer assured the young girl who lay struggling in her bed. Leshia didn't heed her words of wisdom and still struggled until quite suddenly her vision cleared and she suddenly found herself jerking up in her bed, finally able to move. Many of her friends stood at the end of her bed, drenched from head to toe looking delighted that Leshia had come around. None of them could remember feeling more afraid than at that horrible moment when Leshia ploughed headfirst into the ground at her cracking pace. The girl had been buried under the earth she dug up in her descent and when the teachers unearthed her, she had been a bloody state.

"Did we win?" Leshia blurted out the moment she saw the gathered Gryffindors at the foot of the bed. Their faces fell and for a moment Leshia couldn't breathe. "I lost…I didn't catch it did I?"

"Well not exactly," Rachel tried tactfully. "But it doesn't matter!" she quickly added enthusiastically.

"Yeah we still drew," Mila assured the girl, hiding her disappointment well. Leshia threw her hands up to her face and her head dropped back.

"I'm so sorry," she finally moaned.

"Don't be an idiot Malfoy, we're just glad you're alive," Owen complained and Leshia looked through the slits between her fingers to see a concerned expression on the young man's face.

"Where are my mum and dad?" Leshia suddenly demanded, temporarily forgetting about her feud with them.

"Um, they just left actually when you started coming round. They didn't think you'd want them here," Katie explained gently. "Why, do you want us to get them?" With a jerk of her head Leshia suddenly remembered what had gone on a week ago and she quickly shook her head.

"No, it's okay, you're alright thanks."

Leshia recovered well in the hospital wing and after a few hours was given leave to go. Her best friends guided her back to the common room where she was met with supportive nods from the disappointed fans. Feeling quite rubbish Leshia retired to their dormitory in order to get on with her homework and keep a low profile.

Week two of operation 'ignore mum and dad' was more difficult than the first, as after nearly seeing their daughter top herself on the quidditch pitch had made Hermione and Draco more determined to make it up to the girl. She flat-out ignored their olive branches however, stepping up a notch her level of ignoring them. Just how long this was going to go on for she didn't know, but until she felt vindicated for them trying to ruin her life she was going to carry on ignoring them.

Katie and Rachel didn't intervene. They could see Leshia's dismissal of her parents was nowhere near the scale she had waged war on Draco in their first year. The girl still loved Draco and Hermione deeply, but she was too angry to get over her pride, and until she could do that, everyone would wait for her. Even Hermione was finding it easier to deal with Leshia's tantrums, perhaps even to see some amusement in the situation.

Wednesday brought the second ever meeting of the Blue Lions in which several muggle borns recited tales of their muggle born friends feeling fearful and followed and even of one Hufflepuff girl who had fallen into a bush of poisonous bushes in herbology claiming she had been pushed when there was no one else in the room with her. The mystery thickened and afterwards Rachel confided to Leshia that she was a little afraid.

With a week full of quidditch practices Leshia was happy that Saturday brought to her finally a match where she could simply be a spectator when Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw decked it out late in the afternoon. Leshia found herself sandwiched between her Gryffindor pals and was having a thoroughly good time enjoying the match, though every time the beautiful chaser Val would take hold of the quaffle the girl would boo, and every time a bludgers caught the girl off guard Leshia would cheer spitefully. This cruelty was surprising to her friends.

"Why are you being like that?" Rachel asked when Leshia cheered a Hufflepuff goal that had come about due to a Val-error.

"Like what?" Leshia shouted over the noise.

"You're being really weird. Why don't you like Valerie Beckett? She's really nice," Katie enquired.

"Yeah, and aren't you and her on the same team for Hogwarts?" Rachel added. "Shouldn't you like cheer her on or something?" Leshia rolled her eyes.

"Lighten up," the blonde-haired girl laughed and this was the only response Katie and Rachel would receive, though Leshia did tone down her open hostility toward Valerie Beckett. She couldn't have Rachel and Katie thinking her cruel and heartless, no matter how much Val irritated the young girl.

Sunday was dominated by even more quidditch with training for both Gryffindor and the Hogwarts teams jostling for space in the players' busy schedules. Leshia threw herself into practice, trying to show she wasn't useless after her disastrous fall the week before. Though training was far from ideal with the amount of time Owen and Val were spending together. Leshia felt invigorated and after the Hogwarts practice had long finished the girl requested to spend more time on the pitch to do some more laps and exercises. Madam Hooch was more than happy to oblige and so she left the girl to it.

For half an hour Leshia zoomed round the goalposts, pushing herself to exhaustion, trying to vent the negative emotions that had permeated her thoughts the last two weeks. It felt good to let herself go. Walking back to the castle Leshia was sure she might even forgive her parents should they wander up to her at this moment in time, but all this was about to change.

"No you stop it…" Leshia pricked her ears up as the giggling voice of Valerie Beckett bounced off the walls of the corridor round the corner from the Fat Lady.

'Who's she speaking to?' Leshia wondered to herself and she sped up to round the corner. Instantly she wished she hadn't when her eyes fell on Valerie Beckett and Owen Gabriel arms loosely wrapped around each other, a cosy intimacy bringing smiles to their faces intermittently interrupted by playful kisses. Leshia stopped still in her tracks and stared up the corridor in horror. She was not seen and long after she had run from the spot heading in any other direction than towards the two loved-up teenagers Owen Gabriel got the strangest feeling that he was being watched.

XXXXXXXXX

The end :)

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	7. Part Seven

**Generations: the Blue Lions**

**Part VII**

Draco sighed heavily as he stared at the statue of the phoenix. What was he thinking? The note…that third terrible note had arrived a few days ago, putting demands on him that he was unable to deliver on, threatening him with exposition should he fail to retrieve the objects on the list; oh what a list it was. The items scrawled down in neat script were the recipe to a resurrection. To be more precise, the worst resurrection of them all. Could Draco take part in such a plot? Could he fall back into the dark, to where the world stopped still and Voldemort consumed his every thought and action? Yes, Voldemort. His former master was returning, Draco could feel it in his bones and in the ache of his flesh beneath the repugnant dark mark. The items the blackmailer had demanded could be retrieved by Draco only and that was why he had been chosen, but surely the safety of the Wizarding community was worth more than Draco's reputation…worth more than his family?

"No," the young man hissed despite himself into the empty corridor. His mind flew to his poor wife and child…he'd lose them. If they found out what he was, what he was capable of and what he had done, then he would lose them for good. He couldn't take that chance, or could he? "Sugar Spider," the young man exclaimed in defeat, causing the statue before him to swirl into the heavens, giving passage to the stairwell that would lead Draco to the one man he could trust.

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk with a heavy frown of concern upon his face. Here before him stood the most troubled young man he had come across in a long time, and the reasons for Draco's doubt made old Albus worry.

"Draco, you look as though the weight of the world has been dropped onto your shoulders. What could be troubling you so my good friend?" The young man dropped his head slightly, his eyes resting on the edge of Albus Dumbledore's old grand desk. He remained silent. "It seems once more you have come here for council, though what you want to hear you do not know." Draco nodded very slowly, feeling like a little boy in front of the venerable old headmaster.

"I'm losing…" he began, cutting off his words to think of the best way to explain, 'The plot' 'Control' 'My mind' 'My family'… "I'm losing the way," Draco finally decided, looking up into the old man's eyes, desperately seeking out guidance. Old Albus Dumbledore smiled.

"You were jolly lucky to have found it in the first place my boy," he chuckled jovially. "For I have never had such a privilege. 'The way' has been clouded for me many a year."

"Well then how do you know what to do?" Draco asked with a furrowed brow. "You always know what to do." Once more the old headmaster chuckled.

"With life's infinite number of choices, any number can be the 'right choice'. There is no certain path in this life Draco, nor in the next. We certainly like to think of ourselves traversing a path set out for us by the ages, but live as long as I have and you will soon find out that we make our own destiny." Draco hung his head once more. "You must do what you have to do Draco."

Slowly, Draco lifted his grey eyes to those of his friend. What had the old man just said? 'You must do what you have to do.' Did Albus Dumbledore know Draco's dilemma? Did he know about Draco's past?

"Now then, I hate to leave you, but I have to see Argus about this year's Christmas decorations. Last year I was sneezing from December to January with all the Mistletoe he'd pinned about the place. Do excuse me." With this the old man climbed to his feet and ambled from the study, leaving Draco stood beside the desk, having risen to see the old man out, staring around himself with a heavy frown on his face. The paintings on the walls lay bear as all their occupants had sauntered after Dumbledore to see Filch's reaction at being told his decorations weren't up to scratch. Draco was well and truly alone.

XXX

Leshia ran until she couldn't run any longer, at which point she dropped down onto an out of the way spiral staircase and hung her head. Tears were streaming down her face, as they had done since that moment she saw Owen Gabriel and Valerie Beckett canoodling.

"Why does he even like her?" the young girl wailed to the stone walls. "She's horrid!" Unable to understand her own emotions, after all she didn't even _like_ Owen Gabriel, at least not in that way, Leshia was despairing. Surely she was losing her mind? Her symptoms weren't those of teenage hood, no, they were all warning signs of insanity!

The young girl sniffed pathetically in the cold stairwell. It was her birthday in the morning. She would be fourteen years old, and with the extra year surely a dozen more problems would arise. By the time she hit twenty the girl imagined she would be riddled with such problems she would have to be locked up in St Mongos for her own good and everybody else's.

Fast footsteps sounded up the corridor. Not wanting to be seen in such an embarrassing state Leshia pulled her feet up hugging her knees to her chest and sank into the shadows. The footsteps were getting closer, until suddenly a tall figure strode past the entrance to the tower stairwell and would have continued on his path had Leshia not called out,

"Dad!"

Draco slid to a halt and spun around just barely catching sight of his daughter tucked into the stairwell. The heavy bag in his hand burned him with shame and Draco wanted more than anything to turn and run, but there sat his daughter, crying over some new trauma in her life, finally seemingly forgiving him for trying to ruin it.

"Leshia?" the young man finally replied and he strode across the corridor toward the girl, artfully hiding the bag by blocking it with his body. The young girl watched him the whole way until he reached her side.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked, before her face crumpled into tears again and she dropped her face into her knees, hugging them close to her chest with her arms. Without hesitation Draco placed the bag he held between his feet before he sat down beside his child, wrapping two arms about her protectively. What had happened now?

"What's happened?" Leshia shook her head quickly.

"It's nothing," she cried. "I don't even understand it." Draco knitted his brow together and anticipated a problem _he_ was definitely not going to understand.

"Well maybe I can help. What happened?"

"It's Owen," Leshia wept freely, her uncontrollable emotions running riot. Draco seized up a little: Owen Gabriel. What had that scoundrel done to his little girl?

"What did he do to you?" Leshia must have heard the ferocity in her father's tone, because she suddenly looked up desperately.

"Nothing! That's just it. That's why I don't understand it. I just ran into him kissing Valerie Beckett from Ravenclaw, and then this happened." The young girl indicated her pouring face, at which she rubbed with her sleeves, sniffing loudly to stave her pathetic tears. Draco felt helpless; how could he stop her from growing up and having these problems? How could he protect her from time? "I just don't know why," the girl was continuing. "Because I mean, I don't even _like_ Owen, not like that." Not wanting to disagree with the girl (though seeing the truth of the situation) Draco smiled gently and stroked her wild curls from her face.

"Want me to take a hit out on him?" he suggested, deadly serious in his question. Leshia, mistaking his intentions for mirth, chuckled lightly.

"No, that's okay dad," she sighed and then rubbed her face once more. Her had tears almost totally subsided. "I'm such an idiot."

"I'm not arguing with you on that one." Leshia beamed up at her father.

"I'm sorry I was horrid. Again. I just can't seem to stop myself." Draco sighed and finally allowed a small smile onto his face.

"I'm sorry too," he said softly. "I shouldn't have handled it the way I did. We were both in the wrong."

"Does mum hate me?" Leshia asked worriedly.

"No she doesn't hate you," Draco countered firmly. "She's wondering what she did to deserve a daughter like you, but…" Leshia laughed loudly cutting off her father's lies, seeing them for the fibs that they were. "Come on," Draco exclaimed and he climbed to his feet, lifting the bag up into his hand as he went. "You should come and apologise to your mother." Leshia nodded and allowed herself to be helped off the step, though her eyes never left the sack in her father's hand.

"What's in the bag?" she asked curiously as the pair of them set off down the corridor, Draco's arm loosely hanging about her shoulders.

"Your birthday presents," Draco lied easily, thinking of the perfect way to stop Leshia from looking in the bag.

"Really? Can I see?" the young girl asked hopefully.

"You most certainly cannot."

XXX

Rachel's brow was furrowed so much she looked like an old woman as she leant over the large piece of decorated card with her wand. Her brilliant idea of making a card for Leshia had backfired when she realised the spell work she needed to make all the various components do as they were told was far too advanced for her years. Where her original plan had included a triumphant broom-riding Leshia catching the snitch as it tried to leap out of the card, her actual version simply showed a singed vaguely Leshia-shaped piece of card jittering about the sky erratically.

"Oh this is rubbish," the redhead groaned, before she dropped her wand onto the table and her chin into her palms. Across the table Katie was smirking while she kept her own head bent over her Potions homework. "What are you grinning at?"

"Oh nothing," Katie remarked lightly. "I just hate to say I told you so."

"You know," Rachel mused, shoving her pathetic attempt at a homemade birthday card to the side. "You've been in an awfully good mood these last few weeks."

"Have I?"

"Yeah, and you still haven't told me about what happened on Halloween between you and Rodeo," the redhead was continuing.

"Yes I have," Katie countered chirpily.

"Um no, you haven't. You've spun me some cock and bull story that nothing happened, but I know you Katie Potter, so spill." Katie sighed witheringly, but before she could defend herself with lies the door to the common room swung open and instinctively Rachel dived to cover her artwork with a discarded jumper. False alarm, it was only Rodeo, the Weasley cousins and Mila returning from practice, chatting excitedly about their progress. Rachel sighed with relief and pulled the jumper off her artwork.

"Oops," Rachel grimaced when she saw the sparkles she had deposited on the jumper. Not knowing who's it was, the girl tossed it across the common room with a guilty expression on her face. "I wonder where Leesh is." Katie now looked up, her eyes turning glassy when she caught Rodeo grinning at her. Rachel tried very hard to ignore the look that had passed between the pair of them.

"Owen's not come back yet either, maybe they're together?" Katie proposed with eyebrows raised suggestively. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"For some reason I don't think Leshia's gone off with Owen Gabriel behind the bleachers." Katie grinned even more and shrugged her shoulders. "Hey Rodes, where's Leshia got to?" Rachel called to the boy as he headed past them to change.

"Stayed behind to get some extra practice in, she probably feels crap about wiping out last Saturday," he explained, before he disappeared up the stairs. Within ten minutes he was back however, changed into something more comfortable and holding a small bundle of tools and a little clay figurine.

"Wow, what's that?" Rachel pressed, peering over Rodeo's shoulder when he dropped down next to her at the table. Katie too looked interestedly at what the boy was doing.

"It's for Leshia's birthday," the boy explained proudly. "See it's a little model of her on her broom. I'm nearly done painting it and then I'll try and make it fly, just like that model of Lukas Krosovitch that she loves."

The young man leant back and revealed that yes, the tiny model was an exact replica of Leshia riding her broom, dressed in quidditch robes that the boy was in the process of painting in personalised colours. It was a beautiful and thoughtful little gift, clearly revealing how much Rodeo cared about Leshia. Katie, who had only received a book from the boy, sniffed loudly and turned back to her work, her heart racing in jealousy.

"Aw Rodes you softy," Rachel giggled, but she had to admire the boy's handiwork. He was definitely very talented. The redhead was well aware of her cousin's sudden icy demeanour, but she was choosing to ignore it and hoping Rodeo would do the same. He should not be made to feel guilty about making Leshia a nice birthday present.

"That's really coming along," Parys' voice came before moments later he appeared at his best friend's side. "Hey," the boy chuckled. "This is a right Leshia appreciation society over here."

"What did you make her?" Katie asked, a hint of spite in her voice. Rachel glared sharply at her cousin, warning her to stop it. Parys shrugged.

"Me? I'm not the arty type," he replied simply.

"He's lying, he's put together a really nice scrapbook for her. It's mainly pictures, but there's also loads of notes from kids round the school and news clippings and stuff," Rodeo explained, showing off when Parys didn't seem to want to.

"Rodes, it's a secret mate!"

"Yeah but not from _them_," Rodeo countered amusedly. Across the table Katie huffed loudly, feeling furious that Rodeo referred to her as though she were nothing but a bystander. Rodeo and Parys briefly frowned at the girl in confusion.

"News clippings?" Rachel pressed, trying to distract them from her cousin's antics.

"Yeah, well not exactly a reputable paper…more like the Hogwarts Tribune really," Parys explained with a shrug. "But hey, she's been in loads of their articles." Rachel giggled and nodded.

"That sounds amazing," she said truthfully. "Leshia'll be chuffed!"

"Have you just come over here to gloat?" Rachel and the boys stared in surprise at Katie. What had she just said?

"Uh, no," Parys tried awkwardly. "Actually I was looking for my jumper."

"Really?" Rachel said loudly, her cheeks glowing bright red with guilt. Parys instantly saw she had something to hide.

"Yeah, really. What did you do with it?"

"Parys Jackson, I'll have you know…"

"There's a jumper lying behind the sofa mate," Rodeo told his friend, who back stepped until he came across the besparkled pile of fabric lying on the floor.

"Rachel!" the boy accused, but a grin was pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Yes?" Rachel replied innocently.

"How the hell am I going to wear this now?" Parys demanded as he held the sparkly jumper up to his front. Rachel beamed at him.

"I think it brings out the colour of your eyes," she tried charmingly, eliciting hearty laughter from both boys and even a giggle from moody Katie. After collecting some homework Parys joined his friends at the table to work, which they did in relative silence until the door to the common room burst open once more. Both Rodeo and Rachel hurried to hide their work, but it was once again unnecessary, as the new arrival was only Owen Gabriel.

"He looks pleased with himself," Rachel remarked and indeed, the boy had a huge Cheshire cat grin from ear to ear.

"He's a twat," Rodeo grumbled, turning back on his work with a heavily knitted brow.

"What?" Rachel laughed. "Since when?"

"Since forever all right?" With this the topic was closed, though Rachel was very curious as to why the boy hated Owen Gabriel so much. Just before the group were considering sending out a search party for Leshia the door to the common room flew open again revealing the enigmatic young girl grinning broadly. This time Rachel and Rodeo were quick to hide their birthday gifts in Katie's satchel – she only mildly objected – before Leshia had bounded over to them and dropped down at the head of the table.

"You look happy," Rachel remarked.

"That's because I am happy," Leshia replied happily.

"Oh yeah, why what happened?" Parys inquired.

"I'm a Malfoy again."

"Well it's about blimming time," Rachel chuckled. "You aren't half stubborn when you want to be Leesh." The blonde girl grinned.

"That's why you love me," she said happily. "I'm starved. Who's up for some dinner?" After a general consensus of yes the small group climbed to their feet and started drifting towards the door.

"Parys," Leshia enquired with a furrowed brow, as she regarded the boy with her head cocked to the side. "We're another month or so off Christmas. You do know that right?"

"Oh haha very funny," Parys grumbled while the others laughed raucously. "Blame Rachel."

"Why, what did she do?" Rachel gave the boy an urgent look.

"Uh, nothing much, bit of an accident really," he then tried, doing a poor job in covering up for his giveaway. Leshia though wasn't buying it, and she was frowning suspiciously at her friends.

"You guys are up to something, and I don't like it."

XXX

"Oh my God I _love_ it!" Leshia squealed with joy when she tore the paper of the parcel Parys had handed to her. Curled up on the sofa in the common room Rachel and Katie had dragged Leshia down first thing in the morning to receive gifts from all her friends. So now here she sat in her pyjamas, surrounded by a mountain of discarded wrapping paper and gifts. No one else was up yet aside from the third years, so they had the run of the place to themselves. "Parys this is amazing!"

"Yeah, it's okay," the boy stated shyly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Leshia beamed at him and after discarding the book in Rachel's lap she jumped to her feet and hugged her friend firmly. Glowing bright red Parys hugged her back and then had to clear his voice several times. By the time he'd stopped Leshia was back on the sofa tearing the delicate paper off the small gift Rodeo had handed her.

"Wow," the girl marvelled when she tore the paper clear from the hovering model of herself. "Rodes this is…"

"God somebody's finally gone and done it," Rachel laughed.

"What?" Rodeo asked worriedly. Leshia still hadn't said anything.

"You actually made Leshia speechless," Rachel laughed. "Good job."

"This is so cool," the birthday girl finally managed and she looked up with thankful eyes. "Thanks Rodeo, it's amazing!" He too received a hug, which he took with more grace than his best friend. In fact, he didn't want to let the girl go and it was clear on his face. Eventually though Leshia pulled away from him and as his was the last present in line, started clearing up the wrapping paper. Once up in their dormitory Leshia proudly displayed her cards on her bedside table (making sure Rachel's haphazard attempt that was still very dear to Leshia for the thought of it was at the front) and strew her presents out on the bed to tinker with later.

There was no time for examining them now, because breakfast would soon be served and if Leshia got caught up in them now, then she would surely get lost in them for a few hours. After dressing promptly the third years ambled down to the breakfast, finding themselves the first ones to reach the glorious table where they dived upon the food hungrily. Before they could quite fill their stomachs with breakfast however, Leshia found herself the subject of a loud, raucous, out-of-tune yet entirely endearing rendition of 'Happy Birthday to you'.

It was turning out to be a fantastic birthday, only made better by the arrival of Draco and Hermione, who showered their daughter with presents and affection. Leshia pretended to be terribly embarrassed by their open adoration of her, but they could see how in her element their daughter felt. Even lessons seamed much more enjoyable and easy going than normal and by the time the last lesson of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts came along, Leshia was quite sure this was the best birthday she'd ever had. Even Damian Allseyer's jeering and teasing failed to get a reaction from the girl.

"Do you hear anything?" the girl asked her friends with a confused expression on her face. Damian Allseyer turned fuming from the girl, hissing something under his breath at his friends, which elicited cruel laughter from them. Only one Slytherin hung his head and shut his eyes; something had to be done. Light footsteps signified Professor Malfoy was on his way and everyone darted into line, their hands flying to their hems in order to check whether their shirts were tucked in. By the time Draco reached them they were all presentable. Draco too seemed in an abnormally good mood on this day, though it had little to do with Leshia's birthday, as much as the girl wished to think so.

"In," Draco told his class after glancing them up and down, and as was his usual way he held the door open and watched each youngster as they filed past him. Leshia alone of her peers offered the teacher a huge beaming grin, which he couldn't help but smirk amusedly at.

"Get in," he chuckled at the girl. Once all the children had found their seats Draco took up the front of the classroom and spun his blackboard round to reveal groups of five. Most of the youngsters were grouped with friends; Leshia, Katie, Rachel, Rodeo and Parys all found themselves in the same group. Evidently Draco was trying to get the groups to work most effectively with each other.

"Today we will be working in groups," he explained to the class. "So if everybody would like to rearrange the desks into the groups on the board." The scraping of eager youngsters moving about the classrooms with their desks in tow soon filled the air and within no time they had completed this task. "Well that was painless," Draco remarked. "The name of today's lesson is Tribal Warfare. Today we will be preparing for a role-play game. Each of you will play a different tribe of Kappa. If you remember, last week we spent a lot of time discussing the animosity that has existed between the different Kappa tribes of Britain. Next lesson we're going to have a mock battle and we will see who has built up the strongest colony in today's lesson, for which I'm going to provide each of you with various resources." A murmur of appreciative yeses went up around the classroom; never before had they ever done something so fun in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Leshia and her friends were given the Palaku tribe, found in the waterways of southern England, and were soon underway trying to research the history of the tribe in order to better answer questions in the quiz portion of the role-play. Draco explained a little more about the game that they would be playing saying that in order to get battle points the children would have to answer questions about their tribes. It was a strategic game that they would be playing and the more they knew about their tribe and about Kappas the better their tribes would do in battle.

Leshia and her group easily went about effectively gathering information on their tribe and on the species in general by splitting in two with Rodeo and Katie exploring Kappa facts and figures and the other three working on the Palaku books. With the general hubbub of the excitable children and the movement as children moved from table to table borrowing books Leshia didn't notice Julius Black moving to stand beside her until he practically breathed down her neck.

"What are you doing?" Leshia demanded of the boy.

"I came to give you fair warning," the dark mysterious boy offered gently in her ear. "Don't trust your eyes, what you believe inside will never let you down." With this he leant past the girl and lifted a book from her side before he disappeared again leaving Leshia staring after him with a deep frown.

"What was that about?" she finally uttered, completely baffled, before she turned back to her friends. They shrugged in unison.

"He's a Slytherin, what can you say?" Rachel finally tried, but Leshia and everyone else knew there was more to it than that.

"Just leave it for now Leesh, think about him later. Have you written down a line of Kings yet?" Leshia took Katie's advice and soon thoughts of the mysterious Julius Black flew from her head when she read about the gory dethroning of Ugmug the Slippery.

Until three thirty the children worked hard and Draco was very impressed with them, so much so in fact that when it came to dishing out the homework he had planned for them he refrained and instead told them to get into their groups at some point before the next lesson and plan their game plan. For the first time in anybody's memory when the bell went the class wasn't eager to run out of the class, in fact, Draco had to tell them to stop working several times so they could clear out.

"You can stay though," he told his daughter, who grinned cheekily at her father while her friends filed out moaning about the end of their fun lesson.

"That was so cool dad, why did you give us such a fun lesson?" Leshia asked curiously. Draco grinned at the girl wryly.

"Don't go thinking it's because of your birthday." Leshia grinned innocently and twisted round slightly, looking very childlike despite her fourteen years.

"Sure it's not," she teased. "So what did you want to see me about?"

"Dinner actually, your mother requests your company, God knows why. Those friends of yours are invited too."

"Katie and Rachel?"

"Yes them, and your mother mentioned something about a certain Mr Holsson and Mr Jackson being invited as well," Draco said with a shrug.

"Rodeo and Parys?" Leshia yelped happily. "Mum said they could come round tonight?"

"Apparently so. Do you think they'll come?" Draco asked with a sneaky smile.

"You don't scare them that much dad." Draco grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"I hope you're right shorty. We haven't had fresh meat for dinner for a long time." Leshia, fully grasping her father's double meaning, but not checking him on it, grinned at her father and picked up her bag heading for the door. "Don't be late," Draco called after her, before he chuckled to himself. Life felt good today.

Leshia had to run to catch up with her friends, who had already made it down the corridor. Not for one moment did they think the happy grin on Leshia's face was going to affect them.

"Guess what?" Leshia beamed at them.

"Your dad's made you God of the Pakka tribes?" Rachel guessed cheerfully.

"Nope, but hey that would have been cool. No seriously though, you four are all invited to my parents' place tonight for dinner." Both Rachel and Katie nodded, quite happy to join Leshia's parents for Leshia's birthday dinner, but the boys, who had never spent even a moment with the entire Malfoy family gathered in one place, were looking horrified.

"What's wrong with you?" Rachel asked amusedly. The two boys exchanged a worried glance. Could they express their concerns in front of the birthday girl?

"Well," Parys tried diplomatically. "We've just never…uh, spent time with Professor Malfoy outside of uh, the class. You know?"

"Oh don't tell me you're scared of my dad," Leshia laughed heartily. "He's not going to be Professor Malfoy over dinner, he'll just be my dad." Rodeo and Parys still seemed dubious. They didn't know Draco well enough to know that there was a distinction between Draco and Professor Malfoy; to them, those two personas combined into one big terrifying entity. Katie and Rachel secretly felt Leshia was dreaming; there was no way Draco was going to relax into his usual self in front of the boys, not when he could have his fun terrifying the life out of them all evening.

With more on their minds than they had had before Leshia joined them on their trek back, the children carried on towards Gryffindor Tower to deposit their belongings and find something to do before dinner. They had just about reached the main staircase when a girl's screaming drew their attention.

"What's that?" Katie demanded in surprise.

"It's coming from up there," Rachel exclaimed and after sharing an ominous look the five friends started running in the direction of the girl's agonised cries. Several of their peers had the same idea, and soon a massive throng of concerned and intrigued pupils were surging towards the source of the noise.

"Out of the way!" came the voice of Professor McGonagall, as she came sweeping through the crowds. The sounds of shocked pupils were now wafting back through the corridor and finally the third year friends had to come to a stop because the traffic ahead of them had come to a stop.

"She's crushed!"

"What's that on top of her?"

"Is that a cabinet?" Leshia and her friends exchanged an urgent looks as the whisperings filtered back to them, and after nod Leshia started to push through he crowds with her friends in pursuit. Everybody's memories were still fresh from the party Leshia had thrown not so long ago, and being generally well-liked throughout the school, nobody hindered her passage too much. Within no time they'd reached the front of the gathering of pupils and rather suddenly wished they could have remained at the back.

"Oh God," several of them uttered and Katie even turned away from the poor flattened girl lying moaning on the ground. The colossal piece of furniture on top of her could not have got there by accident.

"That's Helen Carter," Rodeo whispered to his friends with a concerned look on his face. "She's in Care of Magical Creatures with us."

"Yeah she's in Hufflepuff," Parys added with a concerned frown: who had done this to the poor girl? "She's always seemed really nice."

"Everybody go back to your dormitories," Professor McGonagall finally told the gathered crowd firmly. Professor Lewis and Professor Snape were already tending to the fallen girl, discussing in hushed undertones the need to get poor Helen to St Mungos. The gathered pupils seemed defiant and refused to pander to McGonagall's orders first time round.

"I will be giving detentions to those who remain behind," the old woman warned them firmly. Leshia turned on her friends.

"Come on, let's go," she told them grimly. None of them spoke as they made their way back to Gryffindor tower, each trapped in their own grim thoughts. Finally, once they'd sat down at their usual table by their usual window box in the common room, they had to discuss what had happened.

"Why would someone do that to Helen?" Parys asked worriedly. Everyone shrugged their shoulders. All around them news of what had happened to Helen Carter buzzed like the hum of a bee colony.

"That was no accident though," Leshia finally said with wide eyes. "I hope she's okay."

"She…" Katie began slowly, before she hung her head in concern.

"She what?"

"Well she, she's a muggle born isn't she?" A significant look went around the table, which also saw Rodeo shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Leshia finally said firmly, not wanting her muggle born friend to fear for his safety, nor wanting the others to start scare mongering. "We should gather some more information, wait and see how Helen's doing." The others nodded, seeing her advice for what it was: common sense.

The afternoon had quite lost its shine, and while they waited to go for dinner the youngsters worked at their homework, their minds drifting off routinely to the poor Hufflepuff girl trapped beneath the gigantic cabinet. On their way down to Leshia's parents' chambers they chatted in a subdued way about the accident. It seemed everyone they passed was talking about it, and after a severe case of crossed wires the children heard reports ranging from Helen having made a full recovery to the worst-case scenario that she had died.

"My parents will know what's really going on," Leshia assured her concerned friends and they hurried up to reach the chambers. Leshia promptly let them in and as she pushed the door open thoughts of Helen Carter were temporarily shifted from the children's heads when they smelled the delicious cooking coming from the kitchen. Leshia beamed a smiled at her friends before she led the way in.

"Hello?" she called out into the empty and haphazardly cleaned living room. The dining table was laid and the sound of Hermione singing along to a tune in her head wafted out from the kitchen. "Hello!" Leshia called out even more loudly.

"Just a minute," Hermione called back, and so Leshia sat her friends down on the sofas, where they appeared most uncomfortable. Leshia herself plopped down on a cushion on the floor beside the coffee table, absent-mindedly examining the essays that lay there. With an unpleasant jolt of surprised she realised the top essay belonged to Owen Gabriel, which Hermione was in the process of marking, so quite suddenly she slid it across the table and turned her head from it.

"What was that?" Rachel snickered amusedly.

"Hello, who'd like a drink?" Hermione appearance saved Leshia from explaining herself and soon the children were feeling a little more comfortable with a glass of fruit punch in their hands. "We'll start dinner as soon as Draco gets back."

"Where is he?" Leshia asked curiously.

"He'll be back soon," Hermione replied breezily, skimming over Leshia's question as though she hadn't asked one. Leshia furrowed her brow, but let the matter drop; interrogating her mother in front of her friends would make everyone feel awkward.

"Did you hear about Helen Carter?" the girl asked suddenly. Hermione's smile dropped.

"Yes, I'm afraid to say I did," she replied.

"Do you know if she's okay or not Professor Granger?" Parys asked with a concerned frown. Hermione smiled sweetly at the boy.

"Well I don't know for sure, but apparently they're hopeful she'll make a full recovery. Her progress so far has been encouraging."

"Did she have very bad injuries?" Leshia asked with a wincing expression.

"Well compared with some of the scrapes you've got yourself into they might seem relatively mild, but they had to repair her whole skeleton and she had lots of internal damage."

"That's mild?" Leshia gasped with wide eyes. Hermione smiled at the girl.

"Yes my dear, in comparison to some of the accidents you've got yourself into it is mild. While you've been totally unconscious your father and I have had to deal with the complete destruction of your body." Leshia shrugged meekly.

"Sorry," she offered with a smile, before she turned back on her friends, who seemed much more relaxed now they knew Helen Carter would most likely be fine. While they waited for Draco Hermione kept the children entertained by showing them pictures she had taken during the summer (a large number of them featured at least one of the girls), until finally the door opened and Draco walked in. The boys instantly went rigid at the sight of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. What were they letting themselves in for? After taking a few paces he stared blankly at the five children for a moment, until eventually he nodded.

"Oh right," he managed, remembering why they were there.

"Hi dad," Leshia said cheerfully, followed quickly by hurried, "Hello Professor Malfoy," greetings from her friends. Draco nodded towards the children.

"Hi," he replied formally, before he assumed a somewhat cheerful face and dropped down in his favoured armchair.

"Is everybody ready for dinner?" Hermione asked the children, before she beamed a smile at her husband. He nodded with an amused dark expression, while the children gave a unanimous affirmative response. "Well take a seat then, I'll go and serve it up." Leshia bounced to her feet, instructing her friends on where to sit ensuring she had the seat near the top of the table beside her father at the head of the table and opposite her mother, so that her friends didn't have to sit so near to their teachers. Draco was the last to amble over, stopping to pour himself a glass of wine from the bar cabinet in the corner. By the time he took his seat at the head of the table Hermione had laid out a beautiful spread and was busy serving the hungry children. The young man was most amused by how the two boys stiffened in fear as he did so.

'So they should,' he thought to himself, glancing at his daughter. They should know not to mess her around, he felt firmly. They should know that if they ever hurt her, they'd have him to deal with. Once everyone had been served Hermione took her place, and where Leshia reached for her knife and fork, the others sat still watching Leshia's parents, only reaching out for their own once Draco had started eating.

"Hmm, it's good mum," Leshia piped up happily, thoroughly enjoying the roast beef dinner Hermione had prepared especially for her daughter knowing it was the girl's favourite meal.

"Yes very good Professor Granger," Rodeo and Parys stammered at the same time.

"Thank you," Hermione beamed at the children. At the head of the table Draco was grinning as he chewed on his food; this evening might just turn out to be entertaining the way those two boys were carrying on.

"So, Rodeo," Draco finally spoke up, lingering on the boy's name to drag out the suspense. Just hearing the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher speak his first name was nerve-wrecking enough for Rodeo, who had only ever been addressed as Mr Holsson by the frighteningly dichotic teacher. "I didn't know you played quidditch."

"Um yes sir," Rodeo quickly replied, furrowing his brow worriedly; he hadn't thought Draco knew _anything_ about him, so why should it come as a surprise that he played quidditch?

"Leshia's told us all about that muggle game you play. Ball foot is it?" Leshia rolled her eyes across the table, an amused grin on her face. She knew her dad was just winding Rodeo up.

"Um football actually," Rodeo corrected.

"Right," Draco replied, nodding his head slowly with narrowed eyes still aimed at the boy.

"Yeah, I started quidditch last year after the world cup. Katie was teaching me last term." Spluttering coughs suddenly erupted from the small blonde girl at the table, and she reached for her water desperately to wash away her choking. Instantly Draco's large hand had flown across the gap between them, powerfully clapping the girl's back to help her get her breathe back.

"Excuse me," Leshia finally croaked, fixing Katie a hard disbelieving stare. How had the dark-haired girl managed to hide that one? Rachel too was staring at her cousin in disbelief.

"Only a few times," Katie tried to excuse herself.

"You didn't think to ask Leshia?" Draco continued, his tone entirely changed. Right before his eyes Rodeo and Katie had hurt his daughter. He wasn't going to let this lie. "She is after all the best quidditch player in your year isn't she?" Rodeo squirmed a little.

"Rodes wanted to keep it a secret to surprise Leshia," Parys spoke up, staring fearlessly at the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The dark boy was quite fed-up with Draco's bullying of his friend. Draco's slate eyes slid onto Parys smoothly, the animosity gone. Good, at least one of his daughter's suitors had backbone.

"Indeed," the young man finally spoke.

"So Rachel, have you heard whether you're going to be spending Christmas at the burrow yet?" Hermione now spoke up brightly, putting a stop to Draco's nonsense. "Because your dad hasn't got back to anyone yet. We've no idea what he's got planned." Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't think he does either," Rachel said cheerfully.

"Are we all going to the burrow again?" Leshia asked hopefully, the pain of Rodeo and Katie's betrayal washed deep under the surface again. Hermione nodded with a big smile.

"Yes, Molly and Arthur are throwing a Christmas Party on Christmas Eve. I think half the wizarding community is invited!" The girls grinned excitedly at one another; they hadn't heard about this, how exciting! With the mood softened the conversation around the table settled into a much more relaxed atmosphere, dominated by Leshia, but enjoyable nonetheless. Once the plates had been conjured into the sink the children were preparing to leave when all of a sudden the lights went out and a beautiful grand cake levitated in with four gigantic sparkling candles on top of it. Hermione and Draco started singing 'Happy Birthday to you' and were soon joined by Leshia's friends. When asked to make a wish Leshia paused for a moment, a look of serious consideration on her face. Katie and Rodeo shifted uncomfortably from side to side; what was the girl concocting?

"Come on Leesh, we haven't got all day!" Rachel piped up happily. With a grin at her friend Leshia blew the candles out successfully in one go, before she slowly lifted her eyes darkly to Rodeo and Katie sat side by side.

XXX

Over the following days the mood at Hogwarts was electric. Word of Helen Carter's untimely accident with the colossal awards cabinet had everybody chattering. Professor Dumbledore had to make an announcement on Wednesday before the rumours got out of hand (indeed, some rumours claimed the girl had been squashed to her death) that Helen was recovering well and would be back at school the following week. This did little to quell the rumours.

The rumour mills were also going into overdrive about the flourishing inter-house romance between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, which saw Owen Gabriel and Valerie Beckett getting very intimate in the great hall, the corridors, the quidditch grounds, the playing grounds…well, in fact just about every corner of Hogwarts there was to get cosy in. Leshia contained her feelings quite well in the face of things, but threw herself so firmly into her work and her quidditch that every teacher she came across couldn't help but feel impressed by her effort. Even old Snape couldn't find a reason to punish the girl or mark her down and ended up giving her her first O in a very long time.

Wednesday also brought about the role-play game Draco had promised the children and after a fierce mock-battle with the other tribes Leshia's group were picked to the post by Julius Black's tribe; something that did not sit lightly with the girl. Her request for a recount of the points was laughed off, but when she persisted the girl found herself losing Gryffindor five points.

Friday brought about the premature return of Helen Carter and she was given a Hero's greeting. Everyone enquired after her well-being and after taking barely a few steps within the castle she had received more attention from the Hogwarts populous than ever before.

"Come along Helen dear," Professor Sprout, who had accompanied the girl from her house back from St Mungos, urged the girl. "The headmaster is waiting to see you in his study." Helen allowed herself to be escorted through the school to the headmaster's study, which she had never been summoned to in her two and a half years at Hogwarts. Consequently, when she saw impressive spiralling entrance into the Headmaster's tower, she felt terribly impressed and yet also mightily worried about what she would say to the venerable man therein.

"Don't you worry Helen," Professor Sprout assured the girl kindly. "Professor Dumbledore only wants to ask you a few questions. There's nothing to be worried about." Helen Carter was not assured, and as she walked into the Headmaster's study her fear escalated beyond all measure, as there, stood beside the Headmaster was Professor Malfoy.

'Oh, why does _he_ have to be here?' Helen thought to herself worriedly before she very reluctantly accepted the seat she was being offered across from the Headmaster. Thankfully Professor Sprout took the seat beside the girl; she was not going to let Draco Malfoy bully a story out of her charge.

"Now then Miss Carter, I am terribly happy to see you have made a full recovery," Albus began kindly. "I trust they treated you well at St Mungos?" Helen nodded quickly.

"Very well."

"Good. I am very happy to hear it. Now then," the headmaster continued, briefly glancing over his shoulder at Draco, who still stood with his arms crossed, regarding the girl with a calculating gaze. "I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you some questions about Monday. Do you feel you are up to it my dear? Because if it is too soon you must say and we will leave it a few more days." From the expression on both men's faces Helen could see they desperately wanted answers sooner rather than later and as she felt she had so little to share anyway, Helen knew she ought to speak of it now.

"No, I can talk now."

"Excellent," Albus said heartily and he clapped his hands together in triumph.

"What were you doing before it happened?" Draco suddenly asked, finally uncrossing his arms and taking a few steps forward. Helen looked up at him in alarm.

"Professor Malfoy is more knowledgeable on such matters than I Helen," Albus offered in explanation. Helen nodded slightly, before she looked back at the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

"Um, I was going back to my common room sir," she replied shakily.

"And were you alone?" Draco continued in a softer tone this time after catching the fierce look Professor Sprout was casting him. Helen nodded.

"Francesca had detention on Monday so I had to go on my own." Draco frowned and lowered his head a little in thought; the girl had not seen her attacker, or she would not have said she was alone in the corridor.

"You did not see your attacker?" Helen shook her head slowly, her large black eyes innocent of any lies.

"Did you hear anything?" Once more a shake of the head.

"Just this loud creaking noise. It was so loud I turned around to see what it was and then the cabinet was on top of me."

"And when you turned, you didn't see anyone?" Helen fidgeted nervously. All week she had feared she was going out of her mind, because truthfully, she had not seen anyone in the corridor that day. The cabinet had fallen by its own accord.

"There was no one there Professor. I'm sure of it."

"That cabinet could not have fallen on its own Miss Carter," Draco said sternly. Professor Sprout cleared her throat and Draco twitched agitatedly; why ask him to take over the investigation of what had happened, why ask him to carry out an interrogation if they weren't going to let him do it properly?

"I'm not saying it did sir, I just don't think there was anyone in the corridor when it happened," Helen countered bravely. Draco looked to the ceiling while forcing himself to remained calm.

"Was there _anything_ unusual about that day? Anything at all?" Helen looked to the ground and tangled her fingers together distractedly. "Miss Carter?" Draco pressed, urging the girl to look at him once more.

"I smelled something," the girl uttered barely louder than a whisper.

"You smelled something," Draco repeated, managing to keep the incredulity out of his voice.

"Yes sir. It smelled like…well it smelled like death."

"Thank you Helen, that will be all," Albus interjected with a big smile at the girl. "You have been very brave and we are all very proud of you for bouncing back from such a terrible thing such as this." Helen smiled goofily at the praise. "At the end of the term you must let your parents know they are invited to the final assembly where you are to be awarded the Godric Gryffindor Award for Bravery." Helen's goofy smile spread to dangerous proportions and she nodded gratefully.

"Thank you sir!" she exclaimed in glee. Albus smiled at her fondly.

"You are most welcome my child. That will be all. If you would escort our hero of the hour to her common room Professor Sprout I would be most indebted to you. I fear you are going to be quite the talk of the school for many weeks to come Helen, you must remember perfect your autograph." Helen giggled and nodded, before she followed Professor Sprout out of the room. Draco watched the girl go with a serious frown on his face.

"An old man I have become," Albus sighed heavily and he shook his head, while Draco wandered round the desk to hover by the chairs. "It is a fool who cannot admit when they are beaten, and I will not tolerate foolishness on my part Draco. I must confess that I do not know what to make of this whole sorry situation. That poor poor girl could have died and now I know not what to make of it." Draco continued to stare the old man down. "You however, seem to be in the throws of an idea, so I shall leave you to it my friend," the headmaster chuckled when Draco did not speak. The young man nodded and headed for the door. "Ah Draco? I feel I must explain something."

"What?" Draco asked with a furrowed brow. What was the old man talking about now?

"Presenting Helen with the Bravery Award when so many times before your own daughter has come so close to death the light has left her eyes may seem hurtful to you."

"I hadn't thought of it Albus," Draco lied.

"Well even if you have not, Leshia most likely will. Would you please do me a great service in explaining to your daughter that true bravery need not be rewarded with plaques and fame. True bravery is its own reward."

Long afterwards when Draco prowled the corridors on his way home he pondered Albus' words. True bravery was its own reward, yes, this was true, but who had the old man aimed his sentiments at? Did the wise wizard have insight in Draco's dilemma? Was he testing him? Draco's jaw twitched at his own cowardice. He had cowed to his blackmailer the moment his comfortable existence had been put into jeopardy and he had done something he knew in his heart was wrong. Yes, life had become considerably more comfortable since the threats had stopped coming, and yes Draco could sleep easy at night once more, but at what cost had these luxuries come? And did old Albus Dumbledore know?

Hermione was lounged over one of the settees when Draco came home. The sight of her beautiful figure draped over the cushions while she marked a terrifically long scroll was a sight for sore eyes where Draco was concerned: she was beautiful. In fact, Hermione had been unusually beautiful of late and even though Draco had not an inkling as to why his wife suddenly appeared irresistible, he was not complaining.

"Hi darling," Hermione beamed at her husband the moment he walked in. "So, what's the verdict?"

"A tricky one," Draco sighed before he crossed the length of the room and dropped down beside his wife, stroking her wild mane off her face.

"How so?"

"I was right. That girl was alone when the cabinet fell on top of her. No pupil, teacher, interloper or ghost was near her when that thing fell on her."

"So what happened?"

"That's what I'm going to find out," Draco replied with a dashing smile. Slowly his smile faded into a simple look of adoration as he regarded his wife.

"What?" Hermione giggled.

"Can't a man admire his wife?"

"Of course, but you're looking at me as though you've never seen me before. What's wrong with you?" The young woman dragged herself up and faced her husband on her knees.

"You just look different lately, that's all," Draco replied with a shrug. Hermione faltered.

"Good different?" Her husband nodded very slowly.

"Wonderful different. I must confess Hermione Malfoy, you are the most beautiful woman in this world and the next." For a moment Hermione's glowing face lit up in joy, her eyes beaming the pride she felt for her husband, but then her face fell when the realisation of the truth she was hiding from him set in. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, I just feel a little sick that's all," his wife quickly offered, looking away from Draco's enquiring eyes. The young man chewed the insides of his cheeks, suppressing the concern he felt raging deep within. It had been a while since Hermione had had one of her sickness bouts, but whenever she succumbed to them he feared for her and felt worthless within for not being able to put an end to her suffering.

"Come on," he finally said loudly and he climbed to his feet, easily sweeping Hermione into his strong arms.

"What are you doing?" his wife laughed gleefully.

"Well if you're sick then there's only one thing for it." After sweeping her away to the bedroom Draco placed his dear wife carefully within the comfortable grasp of the mountain of pillows atop the bed. "Now this, will certainly have to go," he announced, taking hold very gently of her arms so as to pull the chunky jumper from her concealed figure.

"Draco," Hermione laughed. "This isn't helping."

"You're sick right? So you should be in bed," Draco reasoned. "And you can't be in bed with these constricting clothes can you?" The young man deftly pulled his wife's blouse from her small frame as though he'd been doing it his whole life.

"You brute," the young woman giggled and she clutched her shivering body with her arms, trying to conceal her precious minute bump from her husband. He did not notice it. "I'm freezing."

"I'm getting to that," Draco assured her, taking now from his wife her comfortable house-trousers so that now her glorious figure was on show for the world to see. "Much better," he remarked amusedly. Hermione's teeth chattered together.

"Yes well I'm still freezing," she complained fondly. With a charming smile Draco lowered himself onto the bed beside his wife, cradling her into his arms and holding her close to him. For a moment a sliver of fear spread up his spine like a snake made of ice; what if the lid was blown of his torrid secret? What if he lost this precious woman?

"I would never do anything to hurt you," he offered softly, kissing her soft lips with a tenderness he only reserved for her.

"I know."

"No, you don't," Draco sighed and he leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you Granger, I always have, and I always will."

XXX

The following Wednesday brought about the second official meeting of the Lions in the room of requirement. As before the room provided their comfortable surroundings to bask in and their ledger of meeting notes. Leshia and her friends let the rest of the group in and instantly everyone was buzzing over Helen Carter's unfortunate story.

"That settles it doesn't it?" Tom Weasley was saying loudly. "Helen's a muggle born and now she gets attacked? I bet the Slytherins are behind all this."

"But it's not just muggle borns," Leshia complained – she had been trying to stave off a flood of paranoia tasking over the supposedly brave and level headed members of the club. "I haven't really mentioned this yet but…" The girl rubbed the back of her neck agitatedly. "Well in the beginning of term a cabinet fell on me too."

"Oh yeah!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed while across the room Owen looked up in remembrance. How had they all forgotten about that one? A near-identical crime and it had slipped everybody's minds?

"I wasn't hurt, not that bad anyway, but it was the same sort of thing," Leshia explained to the group, who were looking shocked to say the least. "I was walking along on my own when all of a sudden I got this horrid feeling and before I knew it I was under a cabinet."

"You told me Peeves did it," Owen finally spoke up sounding hurt. Leshia looked up at him with a defiant expression.

"Well I couldn't tell you the truth could I? Nobody back then knew there was anything strange going on. You would have thought I was out of my mind."

"No I wouldn't," the boy countered defensively.

"Yeah you would," Rodeo piped up, defending Leshia from the taller boy's attack. Leshia rolled her eyes and interjected before Owen could snap back at her friend,

"It doesn't matter," she said loudly. "I'm telling you now. So it's not just muggle borns that are being attacked."

"Yeah but," Rachel said meekly. "No offence Leesh, but the Slytherins wouldn't mind seeing you squished under a cabinet would they? You're like prime target number one. It still could be them." Leshia nodded fervently.

"Absolutely, I just don't want all the muggle borns in the castle to start fearing for their lives and having nightmares about flying cabinets that's all."

"What about that thing Black told you the other day?" Parys spoke up. "You know, he was being pretty weird wasn't he?" Leshia nodded and recounted the tale of Julius Black's mysterious warning to the group and by the end of the session they were all convinced the Slytherins were somehow behind the mysterious goings on at the castle. The youngsters started observing the Slytherins' behaviour routinely, exchanging tales in the corridors and in hushed groups in the great hall. All the while ISQT and Gryffindor quidditch practices meant Leshia was totally swamped, which made completing her homework and having any semblance of free time entirely impossible. The girl just about managed to set aside an entire day for Rachel's birthday on the last day of November, ensuring her best friend had a fun-filled day complete with extravagant gifts, a stolen cake from the kitchens and plenty of butterbeer. Rachel went to bed that night muttering 'Happy Birthday' to herself and clutching half a dozen Liquorish Wands in her hands.

The end of term was nearing with only three weeks left – and secretly the youngsters felt the last week didn't count, as this was the week of the International Schools Quidditch Tournament and with dozens of guests and quidditch every day it wouldn't really feel like real school anything – and slowly the children noticed their work loads intensifying in the run up to the holidays. All in all they were thrilled when in the weekend after Rachel's birthday a Hogsmeade trip was announced.

The November weather had brought to their door a fresh dusting of snow and before the girls headed out that gloomy Saturday morning, they wrapped up firmly against the cold blizzardy weather. When they reached the picturesque little village Leshia remembered what Owen had told her about Hogsmeade come-Christmas-time; it was beautiful! Everywhere little candles hovered in the air, magically never going out despite the horrid weather. Carol singers ambled around in droves. Christmas wreaths hung from every door and mistletoe in every doorframe. The piece de resistance was definitely the gigantic tree in the tiny square that served as a village centre. Leshia had never seen such a beautiful tree and insisted she and her friends walk round it several times to appreciate its beauty properly.

After at least four times round the Christmas tree Rachel had had enough and dragged her two friends into the nearest tavern, where she collected several Butterbeers and plopped down in a corner booth. The warm liquid soothed their insides and before too long the girls had gone on their way again; they had Christmas shopping to tend to and not too long to get it all done.

"Which one do you think Ashley would like more?" Rachel asked Leshia with a grimace, before she held up a putrid pink talking hair band and a putrid yellow talking hair band. Leshia grinned and after a moment's thought she nodded to the pink one.

"Can't go wrong with pink and Ashley," the girl chuckled, before she stifled a grin and picked up a hot pink pair of sparkling animated boxer shorts. "How about these for Parys?" The two girls were still laughing heartily when the door to the tiny novelty shop flew open and in swept their two male friends bringing half the blizzard with them. Unseen in the corner it appeared as though Katie was on her own as she stood paying for her items at the cash register.

"Hey you, what are you doing here?" Rodeo called out to the tall girl, speaking with a familiarity Rachel and Leshia had never witnessed before. Almost instinctively the redhead reached out and wrapped an arm around her best friend's shoulders; more to restrain her friend than anything.

"Shut your eyes," Katie hissed to the boys fondly and they did as they were told, theatrically bringing their hands up to their eyes while their Cheshire cat grins remained.

"I dread to think what you got us in this place," Parys laughed.

"Hey," Katie retorted sounding a little offended. "You'll take what you're given."

"Yes miss," the dark boy chuckled, before he turned around and started examining the shelves on the other side of the shop. Leshia and Rachel watched from their hiding place as Rodeo sauntered over to their friend's side and while still covering his eyes draped an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Don't worry about him kid, he's an ungrateful sod," the boy charmed. Leshia's face morphed into a wounded look at his words. 'Kid' wasn't a name he'd used for her very often, but as far as she knew, it was a nickname he had always reserved for her and her alone. Katie seemed to have entirely forgotten that her friends were in fact in the shop with her.

"What makes you think any of this stuff is for you two?" Katie teased, her thick dark eyelashes veritably batting at the good-looking youngster with his arm slung round her shoulders. Across the room Leshia wanted to vomit into the basket of fake-vomit. "I think I've changed my mind and you shan't be getting anything from me."

"Oh come on, let me make it up to you. Can I buy you an ice cream?"

"An ice cream?" Katie laughed. "Have you even been outside? It's freezing!"

"Yeah fair enough, but have you had a sundae from the teahouse yet? Because they're so good they'll blow your mind," the boy urged. For a moment Katie considered his proposal, while across the shop Leshia tried her very hardest to use her mental powers to break the two up flirting shamelessly by the cash register. Her powers evidently needed some fine-tuning.

"I'd love to," Katie finally decided. Across the room Leshia's temper snapped.

"What are you two doing skulking over here?" They had been caught and whereas Rachel straightened up to confront Parys, who had caught them eavesdropping, with a witty comeback, Leshia hadn't even heard him. Her ears were burning. Quite suddenly and without warning she straightened up and marched right out of the shop, her friends staring after her in surprise (and guilt). Once outside in the cold snow Leshia's mood did not improve, as she had taken barely two steps before she bumped straight into a certain legendary keeper and his beautiful new girlfriend.

"Watch it," Val warned when the small girl trampled all over her new snow boots.

"Malfoy?" Owen tried more tactfully, aware that the girl was upset about something. "What happened?" He received no response, but for a moment he locked eyes with the girl's glassy ones; the sight of her made his head spin. The next moment she was gone.

"She's so weird," Val concluded.

"Ease up," Owen warned, his tone betraying his feelings more than his words ever could. "She's my friend and she's upset."

"That girl," Val stated coolly. "Is always upset about something or other. You're wasting your time on her. She's just a freak."

"What's your problem?" Owen demanded calmly. "I tell you someone's my friend and you start bashing them?" For a moment Val paused, her keen mind fully realising the extent of Owen's feelings. So, she had a fight on her hands, well then, time to step up to the plate as it were.

"You're right," she lied charmingly, her beautiful large eyes morphing into a puppy-dog routine. "I'm sorry. That was really harsh of me."

Leshia stormed all the way back to the castle where she flung her shopping into her trunk and then changed into her quidditch robes. ISQT training would be starting in an hour or so and Madam Hooch never objected to a little extra credit. So, with her broom over her shoulder Leshia marched out onto the quidditch pitch, pushing herself to the limits, trying to race away her hormones.

By the time the rest of the squads had made their way out she had clocked several hundred laps, all of which Madam Hooch had been watching from her office. She didn't know what had turned Leshia Malfoy into an A student where quidditch was concerned, but she had to admit she liked it.

"Before we begin I have to remind some of you firsts that if you don't pull your weight then I won't have any hesitation in dropping you from the team," the coach warned her players before the training had even started. "This is a big event for the school and I have been charged with providing Hogwarts with the best possible team I can find, and I have to say, some of you are lacking. A little practice in your own time goes a long way. Leshia Malfoy is going to go far in this game because she lives and breathes quidditch. Take this afternoon for example; she's been out here an hour already trying to improve her game. Several of you," the fierce-looking woman explained, and here her eyes lingered on Val and several of the Slytherins on the team, before she continued, "Could learn from our seeker and put in some extra hours."

Leshia hung her head and tried to shuffle backwards. This was the last thing she needed; to have half the firsts hating her for being a quidditch swot. Brilliant. She could see Val's eyes narrowing already and wished more than anything that the Christmas holidays would arrive so she could get away from everyone and everything at Hogwarts.

Leshia wasn't mistaken in her estimation of Val's bitterness at being told to be more like Alecia Malfoy, and her anger only continued to grow and grow when Leshia outperformed every single member of both squads. Still fuelled by the afternoon's upsets Leshia was effectively channelling her emotions into speed, power, agility and skill and quite frankly, she was bloody fantastic out there in the snow and the winds. Val simply couldn't take it.

"Nice catch Malfoy!" Owen called over to his small friend when she made yet another astonishing catch of the snitch. "You're on fire today." Brow set firmly Val soared high with her quaffle, evading the beaters Nick and Will Mills in their training exercise very effectively and also setting herself on a collision course.

The impact of colliding into the small blonde girl wasn't too bad, but after being caught of guard Leshia easily tumble from her broom. Luckily their exercises were being held close to the ground, but the girl still took a nasty tumble.

"Val!" Owen cried out in horror. "What the hell do you think you're playing at?" By now several friendly faces had rushed to Leshia's side, helping the wincing girl to her feet while she clutched her swollen eye socket evidently pained.

"It was an accident," Val lied poorly, the venom on her face still clear as day when she looked upon popular Leshia's support group concernedly making sure the pint-sized seeker was well enough to carry on.

"Like bloody hell it was, you purposefully knocked her off her broom."

"No I didn't," Val countered. "Why would I do that?"

"I have absolutely no frigging idea why you would do that! It's insane!" Owen complained, his protectiveness of his friend shining through beyond all else. It was making Val's blood boil. "Go and apologise."

"No!" the not-so-beautiful-anymore girl countered childishly. "You can't tell me what to do Owen Gabriel. Why do you care so much anyway? This is Alecia Malfoy we're talking about here. I'm your girlfriend, shouldn't you care more about me than some ruddy midget?" For a moment Owen lowered his head and stared firmly at the girl he'd spent the last few weeks getting to know _very_ well.

"You're right," he finally concluded, pausing long enough to watch the smug look materialise on Val's face before he continued, "I _should _care more about you, but I don't. We're through you and I." With this he turned on heal and jogged off to see how his friend was doing after her tumble. It turned out that the girl, who had witnessed 'the break up' was doing extraordinarily well as the large grin on her face could attest to. And as she took to the skies her jubilation lit up the heavens, parting the black clouds and letting the sun in, if only for a moment.

Nothing could pull the girl from her good mood; even witnessing Katie and Rodeo snuggled up on the settee together when she returned from training didn't upset her, something Rachel instantly noticed. She had been shooting grimaces at the loved up pair all afternoon, dreading Leshia's return to this lunacy.

"So seriously, where's our Leshia gone?" Rachel demanded when Leshia had breezed up to the dormitory to change.

"I don't know what you mean?" the blonde girl chuckled whilst she changed.

"Well first you storm off from town. Don't get me wrong, you had every right to be upset because Katie was being a tactless squib, but next thing we know you're flouncing into the common room as though you've been popping Heaven Drops all afternoon. I mean I can see why you might do that, but I've checked the stash and its still going strong. So spill!" Leshia laughed heartily at her friend.

"I don't know," she finally offered with a shrug. "I mean Owen did break up with Val in training today…"

"Oohhh," the redhead interrupted with a look of completed understanding. "Say no more, I get it now."

"Yeah nice one smartarse, maybe you can fill me in," Leshia grumbled fondly.

"Well it's obvious isn't it? I don't see how you can still be in denial Leesh. You fancy Owen!"

"I do not," Leshia complained. "I think I was just jealous because he's my friend. Honestly, why does everything around here have to come down to who fancies who? I mean not everything is controlled by our love lives is it?" Rachel grinned cheekily.

"The way you and Katie carry on it might as well."

"Oh really? So in this alternative universe where everything we do is controlled by our hormones where do you fit in Rach?" Leshia asked amusedly. "Who do you fancy?" Rachel smiled serenely.

"As of yet, no one," she offered happily eliciting a broad smile from her blonde friend.

"I don't believe that for one second." The rest of the evening passed by on a haze of homework on Leshia's part. Her good mood prevailed though and once she was finally done with her work she and Rachel stayed up most of the night wrapped up in an enthralling battle of Wizarding Chess. A stalemate decided the game and with only few hours before Leshia was due out on the quidditch pitch for the weekend's Gryffindor training she turned in for the night.

Barely three hours later and the tired girl stood rubbing her eyes at the edge of the pitch while her team mates chatted enthusiastically around her.

"You look wrecked Malfoy," Mila told the seeker concernedly. "Is it all getting too much for you?" There was nothing but concern in her captain's eyes, but still Leshia knew she had to tread carefully. If she admitted even the slightest weakness it could endanger both her position on the Gryffindor team and the school side.

"No," she managed through a stifled yawn. "It's just me and Rach stayed up half the night playing a bloody game of chess. It's my own fault, honest." Mila nodded kindly and left the girl to it while she started setting up the exercises. Leshia was about to take up her broom and join Jaime Wood in the skies for a warm up lap, when suddenly the small girl fell into shadow.

"Hello shorty."

"Hi Owen," Leshia replied, feeling a little jittery in the boy's presence. Curse that Rachel for putting ideas in her head.

"Sorry about yesterday," the keeper was continuing, his head hanging slightly in shame. "Val was a real cow to you."

"Not your fault," Leshia pointed out.

"Well yeah, but she only did it because she was jealous that we're friends. You know?" Leshia nodded, feeling stung by his reference to them as merely 'friends'. "So it is sort of my fault."

"Don't worry about it, I've got through much worse," the girl offered happily, before she swung her leg over her broom and jumped a little into the hair, hovering near the ground. Owen quickly followed and together they joined the second-year chaser on her warm up. The atmosphere was a pleasant one as it often was at Gryffindors training sessions. Tom and Luke Weasley had the players laughing at their antics, Mila had them working hard at their exercises, Jaime and Leshia enjoyed their own larking around and a general sense of amiability made all seven youngsters feel a true sense of belonging and well being. When the snow started up again Mila told her team to start cooling down, which they did reluctantly; none of them were quite ready to go in yet, which is why they all hung in the air chatting while down below Mila started putting away the balls. Christmas plans were the talk of the table and everyone was eagerly recounting their various stories of Christmases past.

"Ouw," Leshia cried out as a great weight collided with her chest sending her flying from her broom. For the second time that weekend the small girl found herself free-falling toward the ground. Up above her surprised team mates were on their brooms racing after her. None were clear on what had happened. One moment Leshia had been amongst them laughing at Tom Weasley's amusing tale, and the next she was gone fast approaching the ground. They did not reach her in time and when they touched down beside the fallen girl they found her to be unconscious.

"Leshia!" most cried out in horror, trying to revive the girl.

"We have to take her to the hospital wing," Owen said firmly, he alone keeping his wits about him.

"No," the fallen girl interrupted croakily moments before her eyes fluttered open. "I'm fine."

"Just how exactly are you fine?" Owen demanded.

"And why did you fall off your broom?" Luke Weasley added.

"I didn't fall," Leshia complained and she dragged her aching body up off the ground, finding herself hoisted to her feet by half a dozen pairs of hands. "I was pushed. Didn't any of you see it?" Most of her friends shook their heads concernedly, wondering if perhaps the girl had been knocked on the head one too many times.

"I did," Owen finally admitted, reluctant to admit he had been watching Leshia and not Tom who had been telling the story at the time. "I saw. You didn't fall on your own, that's for sure, but serious Malfoy, you've got to go to the hospital wing!" By now Mila had run over from the other side of the pitch. She hadn't witnessed the fall, but guessed something was wrong when she saw the team crowded round the seeker, whilst her broom still hung in the air some thirty feet above. When she was filled in on the situation Mila didn't heed Leshia's complaining and instead frogmarched the youngster straight to Madam Pomfry, who checked the girl over and repaired minor damages she had sustained in her most recent accident.

With Madam Pomfry's warning to look after herself better ringing in her ears Leshia trudged back to Gryffindor tower, her mind whirring. What had pushed her? And why hadn't she or any of he others seen it? Surely that could only mean one thing? That this predator, this horrid creature prowling the castle was some sort of ghost. There were also more pressing concerns, such as why Leshia had now fallen prey to this creature three times; once at the shrieking shack, another time when the cabinet had trapped her and now this. Was this a personal thing? Had Damian Allseyer finally found a way to get her without incriminating himself?

With so many questions to answer Leshia sped up until she reached her friends' sides. They had heard all about Leshia's fall from the others and were both very concerned about what had happened.

"Come on, let's talk upstairs," Leshia told them and only once they were safely within the privacy of her four-poster with curtains drawn did Leshia explain fully what had happened.

"You should tell your dad Leesh," Katie said firmly.

"Oh not this again," Leshia groaned. "Katie I don't want to go running to my dad every single time something goes wrong. This is something for the Lions to figure out, it's our duty, not his."

Leshia's fall did filter back to her parents though and come Monday afternoon in their last lesson of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Leshia caught an earful from her father for not telling her parents sooner about her frequent accidents.

"I also hear from Minerva that a few weeks ago you found yourself in a similar situation to Helen Carter," Draco lectured his daughter, who sat alone in the classroom after the lesson, staring tiredly past her father's shoulders. "When were you going to tell us about that one?"

"I didn't think it was important dad," Leshia complained finally. "I mean, it wasn't the same as that whole Helen Carter thing, it was only a tiny cabinet in the first place so I wasn't hurt, and secondly I'm pretty sure it was Peeves who pushed it." Laying the blame once more at the Poltergeist's door didn't sit right with Leshia, but she couldn't have her father figuring out that she and her friends were looking into the source of all the mysterious goings on at Hogwarts, as surely, Draco would not allow it.

"You're lying," Draco complained tetchily. "It wasn't Peeves Leshia. So tell me what really happened." Leshia sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know what happened. One minute I was walking along and the next I'm under this great big cabinet…"

"You just told me it was a small one," Draco interrupted, a worried expression creeping onto his face.

"Um, well you know, figure of speech," Leshia quickly covered, trying to console her father's worry a little. "Owen Gabriel and his friends rescued me anyway and then we told Professor McGonagall. So it's not exactly like I was keeping it from you. I just thought she might have told you."

"And you didn't see anything?" Leshia shook her head. "Hear anything? Smell anything?" This time the girl furrowed her brow; so, Draco had heard word of the peculiar smell victims of this creature caught wind of moments before it struck.

"No, nothing," Leshia lied convincingly.

"And what about yesterday, when you mysteriously fell from your broom," Draco continued.

"Why do you say it like that? So I fell, big deal. There was nothing mysterious about it."

"Really? So you're telling me that you can perform absolutely outrageous death-defying stunts on that broom of yours without falling off, yet somehow you managed to slide off it from standing still?" The small girl shrugged her shoulders.

"In my defence, it was snowing," she tried. Draco narrowed his eyes at his girl, feeling infuriated by her secrecy.

"Fine," he exclaimed icily. "If you want to keep secrets then go right ahead, but I will find out eventually, mark my words!" Leshia had no doubt of the truth behind her father's sentiments and so with a small nod she climbed to her feet and started toward the door. "Wait," her father called after her, and after several loping strides he'd reached her side and swept her into a powerful hug. "I beg of you not to get caught up in all this, but if you absolutely have to just...just watch your back okay?" Leshia nodded into her father's chest.

"Okay," she assured him, feeling rotten for causing him such grief all the time.

"I mean it Leshia," Draco warned her, and after squeezing her firmly he let her go, his hands on her shoulders, his eyes staring into hers in slight desperation. "Watch your back!"

That night over dinner Leshia felt subdued; her parents seemed incredibly withdrawn up at the head table, and as it was due to her knack of getting in the middle of things which caused her to have a nasty thirty-foot fall, the girl couldn't help but feel miserable. Her friends left her to it, leaving her to stew in her own thoughts. After all the evening's plates and platters had cleared from the tables Albus Dumbledore climbed to his feet and hall hushed down to hear what he had to say.

"I will not detain you long," the old man assured the youngsters. "But I have news that might interest you about our upcoming international sporting event. As is the custom when we wizarding nations come together, we are going to show off. It is not enough for our Hogwarts pride that we will host these pupils from all over the world in our beautiful school. And it is not enough that we are going to educate them to our high standards as our guests accompany you in your lessons. No, we must go one step further, which we will do by holding the grandest ball Hogwarts has ever seen." Across the hall the pupils burst into whispers of excitement. On Gryffindor table Leshia and Rachel exchanged a horrified look, which soon saw them bursting into their own giggles. "On the last Friday of term we shall throw open the doors of the Great Hall to hold a farewell festival for our international guests. There is not a single dormitory in the castle that shall be free of our visitors, so I appeal to you to make your individual charges feel welcome. In a few moments you will be free to go, and outside on the notice boards you will find who you are to host in a week's time."

"I hope we get decent ones," Rachel uttered to her friends, who nodded firmly.

"Yeah, can you imagine if we wound up with whatever school's equivalent to Slytherin?" Leshia agreed grimly.

"Now I have given you enough reason to go charging out of the hall in a most disorderly fashion," Dumbledore continued amusedly, his bright eyes twinkling mischievously. "By all means, charge away." Leshia and Rachel were on their feet before any of their housemates and within no time they'd reached the entrance hall in a clash of pupils. Being quite wily they managed to squeeze through the throng of eager pupils until they reached the notice board.

"Let's see," Rachel thought aloud, as she ran her finger down the list of dormitories until finally she got to:

**_Gryffindor 3rd Year Girls_**

_Petra Walsh, 19/10/1998, Salem High  
Heather Green, 8/4/1999, Salem High_

"They're like, old," Rachel announced once both girls had read and then reread the names carefully. "They're two years above us." Leshia nodded grimly, thinking not about the age of their guests, but their school. This Salem High was the athletically renowned school she had read about in the library not so long ago. If the propaganda in the book was anything to go by, then these girls would surely belong to the best team at the tournament? Feeling more than a little grim, Leshia and Rachel squeezed out of the crowd relaying to their dormitory mates the identities of the girls they would be hosting.

Both Ashley and Nicola were thrilled to be getting guests from America, hoping they would bring with them all manner of paraphernalia they had no doubt read about in their magazines, but Katie shared her friends' doubt. These girls were in the equivalent of fifth year; surely they wouldn't be able to relate to these young women?

"It is sort of exciting about the ball though isn't it?" Katie asked her friends wearily; she so desperately wanted to spin off into giggling chatter about the upcoming event. Leshia noticed.

"Yeah, it should be great," she lied enthusiastically. Katie beamed at the blonde girl and she was off, rambling about dresses, make up and dancing, while Rachel gave Leshia a 'what-did-you-do-that-for?' look. Leshia rolled her eyes subtly at the redhead, before she put all her effort into joining in Katie's enthusiasm. If Katie wanted to talk 'ball' then Leshia would gladly accommodate her, despite feeling rather grim about the whole affair herself. Once at Gryffindor tower all the third year girls made their way upstairs to see what suitable attire they had in their chests of drawers or in their trunks and with a chorus of wails of despair it turned out that they had very little suitable dresses for such a prestigious event.

"I have _nothing_ to wear," Nicola announced firmly. "And we just had the last Hogsmeade trip of the term, we won't be able to buy anything!"

"Well we could always ask Gracie and Daisy if they have anything we could borrow," Ashley suggested to her best friend, referring to the other two girls of their posse who had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Katie too was staring forlornly at her chest of drawers; evidently she had nothing suitable to wear. Leshia knew without looking that she had nothing elegant enough for a ball and though she couldn't understand it, this irked her.

"I'm just going to have to make something," Leshia sighed heavily. All four girls turned to stare at the small blonde girl with wrinkled brows.

"You? Make something?" Rachel finally announced, speaking the sentiments of the other three. Leshia feigned an insulted expression.

"Yeah, me. Why not? How hard can it be? I bet my mum would help, and she orders material from this shop in France all the time." Her friends were looking jealous of her connections and after considering pretending to snub them before letting them know that of course she would help them too, Leshia felt it would be too cruel to lead them on. "If you lot want some help or some material my mum would be all too happy to help."

And so it was decided. In an unusual case of all five third year Gryffindor girls doing something together, they all piled onto Ashley's bed with notebooks and pencils in hand to start making sketches. Caught up in the excitement of the whole thing they sketched for hours until finally Ashley called it a night and forced the others into joining her in retirement by demanding they evacuate her bed.

The following morning the hall was ripe with chatter over the upcoming tournament. Leshia, Rachel and Katie were late to the table and could only just about squeeze onto the bench sandwiched between some of the fourth year boys and the sixth year girls. Leshia gleaned from Mila that they had been given two girls from a school coming from Senegal and that Owen's dorm had been given two boys from Salem High.

"Should be interesting," Leshia's tall friend confided in her. "I had a mate who goes to Salem High, he always used to boast that they were the best quidditch players in the world. I bet when we play them they'll see what real quidditch is all about. It'll be good to rub it in his face when we beat them." Leshia smiled nervously. "What's wrong shorty? You seem pained."

"Well it's just I found this book in the library a while back, it was about wizarding schools," the girl explained cautiously.

"Considering a transfer Malfoy?" Owen asked amusedly.

"No, but I did read about Salem High. They're good Owen, really good." Owen grinned charmingly.

"Yeah, but not as good as us right?" Leshia's face remained stony and for the first time all morning Owen Gabriel seemed less sure of himself. He trusted Leshia entirely, and if she felt they had something to be worried about, then there was something to be worried about. "Do you think they're better than us?" he asked concernedly, his hazel eyes sucking Leshia in like two black holes. She couldn't lie to him.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure they're better than us."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End of Part VII

Hallo! It's a little shorter than I normally like, but I realised the story was traversing at snail pace so I tried to pick up the pace a little. Trouble is I reached my planned stopping point a little sooner than I woud have liked. Never mind though right? It's still a doozy :D

Anyways, review, review, review!!!


	8. Part Eight

**Generations: The Blue Lions**

**Part VII**

Leshia's news spread through the school like wild fire, with word of the legendary American sporting school only furthering Hogwarts' defiance and determination to win. Leshia and her fellow Firsts could not help but feel a little worried about the upcoming tournament, but as they were enjoying a temporary celebrity-status most were milking it for all it was worth. Within the day all of Hogwarts' quidditch players had dates for the ball save one, who quite simply refused to get dragged into all this malarkey. Leshia alone of her peers kept a low profile and didn't give in to the hysteria of the moment. In her short career at Hogwarts hysteria had often tried to involve her and often it had succeeded, but on this occasion she was refusing point blank. Finding out that Owen Gabriel would be taking one of the beautiful Frances-Taylor sisters to the ball didn't bother Leshia one bit, and quite surprisingly, neither did finding out that Rodeo and Katie would be in attendance together bring a rise out of the girl; her indifference to all things quidditch and ball-related was total and complete.

Wednesday brought about the biweekly Blue Lions meet in the room of requirement, and as usual Leshia and her friends arrived a little early to make sure the room was in order. It had been that very morning that news about Rodeo and Katie's arrangement had broken and as such Katie was walking around on eggshells where Leshia was concerned. No matter how hard the blonde girl tried to assure her tall friend that in actual fact she couldn't care less about anybody's ball arrangements let alone theirs, Katie would not let the matter lie, despite Rachel's hints to drop it. Even now while Leshia examined the past few sessions' log notes Katie sat opposite the girl on a pile of cushions staring intently at her friend.

"You're _sure _you don't mind?" Katie persisted for the umpteenth time. Leshia shook her head calmly, managing to suppress her irritation with Katie's persistence.

"Yes Katie, I'm sure I don't mind," Leshia assured her.

"Because I won't go with him if you mind."

"I really don't mind," Leshia repeated.

"Katie would you leave the poor girl alone?" Rachel laughed uneasily; she herself was very unsure of Leshia's feelings and intentions. Why was she suddenly so relaxed about the impending relationship between the boy she had an immense crush on and one of her best friends? Katie turned a desperate expression on her cousin. What was she meant to do?

"Well who are you going with?" Katie asked determinedly. "Parys?"

"No," Rachel answered for the blonde girl. "He already asked me."

"He what?" Leshia finally spoke amusedly, looking up with a big grin. "You and Parys?" The twinkling smile on her face mocked the redhead girl fondly and Rachel retorted by sticking her tongue out.

"No you idiot, there's no me and Parys, we're going as friends. Neither of us can be bothered with any of this date rubbish so we said we'd go together to get out of anyone else asking us." Leshia grinned to herself before she turned back on the ledger. "Leshia! Don't go thinking there's…" the redhead began hotly.

"Oh keep your hair on, I'm not saying anything am I?" Leshia laughed.

"So who _are_ you going with?" Katie enquired lightly, her keen eyes narrowed on the small girl in intrigue.

"Why do I have to go with anyone?" Leshia countered simply, keeping her eyes firmly on the grand book Katie had been scrawling in. "It's just a stupid ball and I'll have lots more fun if I'm not attached to some dull boy all night. Now will one of you go and let everyone in or do I have to sit here and get inquisitioned all night?" Rachel agreed to go and let the hoards of Lions in while Katie stared at Leshia through narrowed eyes; something wasn't right!

As usual everyone was on time and within no time, after they had poured themselves a drink and helped themselves to the customary cake, the discussion had begun. Unsurprisingly, though no less embarrassing for Leshia, talk of her untimely fall was top of the agenda. Those who had not witnessed it were dubious as to the mysterious nature those who had been at the scene of the fall insisted surrounded it and within no time an argument had broken out. Though mortified that it had been brought up, Leshia would not sit silent while people questioned not only her sanity, but even worse than that: her quidditch skills.

"I did _not_ slip off the broom," the youngster stated loudly and slowly, her temper rising, causing her pale cheeks to flush with anger. "What sort of an idiot do you take me for? Who in their right mind just falls off a stationary broom?" The members of the Lions stayed very silent and looked down at the ground; Leshia seemed infuriated that they had dared to suggest what had happened to her was mundane and quite without any mystery attached. And never was there anything so frightening as an infuriated Malfoy. Even the tiny female variety, though not as frightening as the grown male version, was a force to be reckoned with. Any who spoke up now ought to know that they were playing with fire.

"I saw the whole thing." Leshia glanced across the circle at Owen, who was firmly avoiding Leshia's eyes. "She didn't fall because she suddenly lost her balance, or the wind caught her by surprise, or because she's a complete and utter incompetent moron who just let go of her broom and slid off it." The boy seemed quite wound up. "She fell off because something gave her a bloody hard shove; something that I couldn't even see. So would one of you please tell me why we shouldn't be discussing this? Because to me this is exactly the sort of thing we should be worried about and trying to figure out." The boy's chest rose and fell rapidly, indicating how fervently he was trying to defend Leshia's name and reputation and for a moment the blonde girl smiled at him and mouthed,

"Thank you." Owen's outburst seemed to quell anyone's doubts over Leshia's recount of what had happened and now the conversation turned instead to what on earth could have attacked her and whether it was related to the other events that had been going on.

XXX

Upon deciding that an international quidditch tournament was to take place at Hogwarts all the teachers of the school had gathered to discuss how this prestigious event (though to some merely a nuisance) was going to affect the daily goings on at Hogwarts. It had been a loud and lavish affair in the staff room, with Dumbledore ensuring his staff were provided with the most delicious of foods and just a very little ale to ease the situation along. To begin with, the discussion had been tame, with everyone proactively contributing their thoughts on where the guests should sleep, how hosting orders were to be established, how they were going to give trials for the team, and what magical events were going to be included in the opening ceremony.

However, within no time this happy conversation turned sour when it became evident that some members of staff had entirely conflicting views on aspects of the tournament. The largest such issue was indeed the most complicated to settle; when should the games take place?

Already Madam Hooch had explained the logistics of the tournament to her colleagues. There were going to be two pools, Pool A and Pool B, each one consisting of five teams. The teams within these pools would all play each other resulting in a pool winner and a pool runner up. The tournament would then progress to knock out mode, with two semi-finals, pitting the runner up of one pool against the winner of the other and vice versa. The finale of this week of entertaining and hopefully breathtaking sport would be the final in which the victor of the tournament would be decided.

All this the teachers had understood, in principle agreeing with the twenty-three matches such a set-up would produce. When it came to talking about the logistics of fitting in five matches on every weekday and delaying returning the pupils home for Christmas to hold the final on the Saturday however, talks rapidly broke down.

Most members of staff found themselves divided into two camps; those who wanted to scrap lessons and play quidditch all day long, and those who simply refused to have their lessons cut short and insisted the quidditch matches be fit in after school hours.

"But a quidditch match can last hours!" Madam Hooch had bitterly objected. "How are we to fit in five games in one afternoon? It's absurd!"

"I simply cannot afford to lose an entire week's lessons," Severus Snape had snapped back. "My fifth and seventh years have mock exams in the first week back after Christmas. With the number of dunderheads I've got in those years they'll need all the time they can get."

"This is a wonderful opportunity to show Hogwarts off to schools from all over the world Severus," Hooch had then retorted. "Are you really going to sabotage our chances because you're an incompetent…"

"How dare you! As though teaching children to ride on a broom or throw a ball is as challenging as getting them to create an invisibility potion without blowing themselves up or making the effect irreversible!" The argument had moved on from here full throttle, with no one backing down.

"Why must the whole school attend each game anyway?" Hermione had finally spoken up when and icy silence filled the staff room. She had been one of the few who remained on the fence about this issue; it struck her as a nuisance that she should miss out on teaching time, especially with the mocks coming up, but to fit five games of quidditch into a mere few hours would be impossible.

"It's a bit pitiful to invite them and not provide supporters or an audience." Hermione's brow had furrowed even deeper and for a moment she clearly pondered the predicament. When she next spoke everyone was forced into hearing her out due to the sensibleness of her plan. Those who had a match would obviously be given time off classes to go and play, with whichever dormitory was hosting them being given time off to watch as well as the dormitory of their reserves and the reserves themselves. This would amount to a large enough crowd, with on average two people being hosted per dormitory.

Games could be rotated so that each team had an equal number of 'in school' matches as well as 'out of school' games, so that no one year would be missing out on excess amounts of lessons. Indeed, the schedule could be manipulated in such a way that seventh and fifth years not miss important lessons.

Once she had finished explaining the logistics of her plan Hermione's colleagues stared at her in silence for few moments, before they turned on each other all talking at once. Most seemed to be in agreement with the plan and were now talking fine-tuning. Only Draco remained silent (as he had throughout the meeting), though he had smiled proudly at his wife, before he mouthed,

"Know it all."

XXX

The week, though action packed with the Gryffindor girls spending every spare moment making their dresses for the ball, was flying by for Leshia, who's fear about disappointing on the international stage was eating her up inside. Everyone else in the school would attest to the week crawling by at a veritable snail pace, but for the young seeker Sunday arrived all too soon and with it, the arrival of their ISQT guests. The arrival of the quidditch-playing guests was far less spectacular than anyone would have guessed and it rather went along the lines of one moment they weren't there and the next they were. The youngsters had been told over breakfast to come to the great hall at certain times appointed by which house they were in. Gryffindor were the first to be called to the hall and excitedly the youngsters surged upon the double doors the moment they were swung open.

Inside the tables had magically disappeared, leaving way for comfortable sofas arranged in nine separate groups. Lots of youngsters were milling about, youngsters not dressed in Hogwarts' uniform, youngsters that had obviously just arrived from far off and exotic locations. Leshia was swept inside along with the rest of the house and instantly her attention was raptly caught by the wizarding pupils from a school evidently in Africa due to the very dark hue of their skin. The robes they wore could not have differed more from the black simple robe Leshia and her peers wore over their grey uniforms; bright purple was the predominant colour on the long sleeveless robe, with scarlet and gold edgings to the elaborate cloth. They looked fascinating.

"They must be from École du soleil de sorcellerie," Katie whispered when she realised Leshia was staring at the same group she had first been drawn to. "They're from Senegal."

"I wish we could have got them, they look wicked," Leshia whispered back.

"I think that's our lot over there," Katie told her shorter friend, nodding in the direction of the only non-uniformed group of the bunch, at least, not in a school uniform. All seemed to be donning a uniform that consisted of jeans, trainers and a colourful assortment of T-shirts, but this could not be a school uniform surely? With carefully arranged hairstyles, painstakingly crafted manicures and made up to look as though they had stepped out of a model shoot, the girls amongst the crowd looked severely out of place. Leshia felt something in the pit of her stomach squirm. Beside her, Katie was feeling it too.

"They're gorgeous," the tall girl finally uttered, but before either of her friends could reply, Professor McGonagall had raised her voice over the chatter of the excitable Gryffindors,

"Now then," she called out shrilly and everyone in the great hall turned to look at her. "When I call out your dormitory I would like only one person to come forward to greet your guests and lead them out of the great hall. It is in everybody's best interests if you work out amongst yourselves who that person will be now, so that the rest of you may wait outside. There are far too many of you for this to work effectively as it is." Upon this announcement Leshia and the other four girls in her dorm turned to look at each other through narrowed eyes.

"Rock, paper, scissors," Rachel finally announced and as one the five girls flung their balled up fists into the space between them all.

"One, two, three," they all called out and then displayed their chosen weapon. Three rocks and two papers meant Katie, Ashley and Nicola were out of the running leaving Rachel and Leshia grinning at each other.

"Give it your best shot Malfoy," Rachel giggled happily. Leshia grinned back at her best friend and held out her small grubby hand.

"One, two, three." Two rocks.

"One, two, three." Two papers.

"Oh this is ridiculous," Katie grumbled. "Why can't you two be normal for two seconds? Do it properly this time."

"Okay," Leshia said calculatingly, before once more the two girls held their fists out toward one another.

"One, two, th…"

"Shotgun!" Rachel stared at Leshia in surprise.

"Hey! We're not playing shotgun rules," the redhead exclaimed firmly. Leshia grinned and shrugged her small shoulders.

"Shotgun rules apply to everything Rach, you should know that, you've got siblings."

"But if I'd known we were playing Shotgun rules I would have called it by now," Rachel complained, her disappointment evident. For a moment Leshia felt terrible.

"Well, if you want you can," she began generously, but Rachel shook her head firmly; there's no breaking the Shotgun rules and Leshia had called it fair and square.

"No, you go, I'll wait outside." Leshia grinned comfortingly at her friend and watched as her four dorm-mates filed out of the hall with the majority of their fellow Gryffindors. Leshia was happy to see that Rodeo had won out of the boys and so she sidled up to him with a grin.

"Do you see them?" Rodeo told his friend softly, while he nodded across the hall to the yellow clad, dark-haired group of pupils. "They're from Xí Xiào, it's this school in China. I've heard that instead of playing with beaters they have broom-riding swordsmen instead." Leshia sniggered despite herself. "What?"

"Rodes don't believe everything Parys tells you, he's just winding you up," the short girl chuckled, eliciting a dashing grin from the boy.

"What makes you think I got this from Parys?"

"Where else would you hear such a crazy story?" Rodeo's cheeks went a little red.

"Rachel," he finally managed embarrassedly, which caused Leshia to start laughing loudly. People started to stare at her, so Rodeo slung his arm about her neck and dragged her toward him. "Stop it kid, people will think I'm a laughing stock."

"You are," Leshia chuckled, but stopped at her friend's embarrassment. "I mean to believe Rachel of all people…" Leshia trailed off, because McGonagall had by now walked over to the few remaining pupils with a long list.

"Right then, that wasn't so difficult now was it? We'll start with first year boys." And so it began. Leshia was fascinated by all the interesting pupils that were called forward to be house with the lower years in Gryffindor. Evidently the schools had been organised so that they would be divided equally between the houses and by the time years one and two had been designated and had left four schools had been called forward: Xí Xiào, Durmstrang, the Americas Institute and Durmstrang. Now it was Rodeo's turn to collect his guests, who were coming from the Australian wizarding school: Wallaby Academy. Two boys who could only possibly be described as 'surfers' (though this was not a description any of the Hogwarts lot really knew and therefore did not know how to describe these two boys) and went by the names Harvey and Jesse accompanied her friend out of the door and now Leshia felt a twang of nervousness; it was her turn.

"Staying with the third year girls," the teacher read out. "From Salem High, Petra Walsh and Heather Green!" Leshia looked toward the jean-clad school and noticed grimly that the two most attractive girls of the group had picked up two backpacks and were now strutting forward with more than their fair share of attitude.

'Brilliant,' Leshia thought to herself, before she assumed a pleasant welcoming expression and made her way forward as well. She could see the two preened girls sizing her up as they approached and by the time the two parties met, Leshia was sure they had carried out a full analysis and consequent judgment on her appearance.

"Hi," the short girl offered in a friendly tone and she held out an ink-spattered hand for the two newcomers to shake. They didn't exactly fight over who would go first, but eventually the deed was done and Leshia was leading them out of the great hall. "I'm Leshia," she offered. The taller of the pair, a girl with flowing golden locks, a deep tan and large brown eyes introduced herself as Petra the varsity seeker for Salem High, while her ever-so-slightly shorter, auburn, blue-eyed companion transpired to be Heather, one of the varsity team's star chasers.

"Are you sure you're in eighth grade?" Petra asked before Leshia had even managed to welcome them to the school. The short girl furrowed her brow.

"Eighth grade?"

"Petra they don't call it that here," Heather corrected her friend, before she turned an extremely patronising expression on Leshia. "Sorry, that's just what third year is called in America," she explained, as though Leshia were a child.

"Oh, right," the British girl finally replied uneasily. "Um, well then yeah, I'm sure I'm in eighth grade."

"Sorry," Petra offered, her tone indicating that she didn't feel apologetic in the slightest. "It's just, you're so small." A small cough escaped Leshia's lips and for now she was deliriously happy that they had reached the entrance hall and her friends had fallen upon them.

"These are my friends, they share a dormitory with me," Leshia explained before she introduced the four other girls. Petra and Heather's faces fell even more and on the walk back to Gryffindor tower they continued to express their less-than-impressed conclusions of Hogwarts and her pupils.

"Your school is so old," Petra announced. It wasn't a compliment.

"Well it is a castle," Katie countered, taking their lack of enthusiasm rather personally. Leshia wondered whether she might not be so insulted were they not quite so attractive.

"Our school was built like five years ago, it's basically brand new," Heather told the Gryffindors with a smug smile.

"Good for you."

"Katie," Rachel said loudly, giving her cousin a warning look; why was Katie acting so very un-Katie like? "So what's your school like then? Leshia told us she saw some pictures of it and there were these strange metal oblongy thingies in the corridors." Petra and Heather tittered.

"Oh I can't get over your accents, they're so cute!"

"Those 'oblongy thingies'," Petra began, poorly imitating Rachel's accent. "Are called lockers, we keep stuff in them during the day. We don't live at school like you guys, so we don't get to keep all our stuff around all the time."

"We do actually have homes as well you know," Katie explained with a frown.

"Well obviously…" Petra began, but all of a sudden her friend reached out and grabbed her arm firmly. For a moment Leshia and her friends had no idea as to why, but then it dawned on them; in the distance Draco was approaching. Leshia's heart started skipping in horror.

'Oh _please_ don't let them fancy my dad,' she pleaded silently, but the closer Draco came, the more the their new guests swooned. The young man had not failed to notice and as he approached his daughter he caught her eyes worriedly, thinking the exact same thoughts as she.

"Morning Miss Malfoy," he offered Leshia as he passed and she nodded with a look of commissary before her father was gone. Petra and Heather spun around to watch him disappear round the corner.

"Don't tell me that guy is one of your teachers," Petra exclaimed hysterically.

"Yeah, he is," Leshia said with a bemused expression on her face. "Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"You guys are so lucky."

"He is so hot!"

"Yeah, um, he's my dad." For a moment Heather and Petra stared at the girl blankly, before they exchanged a look of bafflement, followed promptly by cackling laughter. Evidently they thought Leshia was either demented or joking. "No seriously," the blonde girl complained. "He is."

"Sure he is honey," Heather breezed over the girl and for a moment Leshia glanced to her friends with her hands in the air as if asking 'what should I do?'. Each and every one of them shook their heads with raised eyebrows: what could she do? So they left the matter, though Leshia had a terrible feeling that this was only going to get worse before it was resolved.

Upon reaching their dormitory, having scrambled through a heaving common room filled with fascinating faces, the girls found their room to be much changed since they had left it that very morning. All the beds had squeezed round to accompany two smaller four-posters with sheets the colours of Salem High's shield. Petra and Heather's trunks lay at the foot of their beds.

"Wow, what a small room you guys have to share," Heather announced the moment the girls led them in.

"We like it," Katie countered defensively.

"Don't you get cold? There's a draft coming in this window," Petra added to her friend's negative sentiments.

"When you've got your curtains shut and you're under your duvet you won't notice a thing," Ashley assured the two Americans. Her excitement at having the girls from Salem stay with them had since diminished upon finding out how insufferable they were, but she had to make an effort. While Petra and Heather 'freshened up' behind their curtains Leshia dropped down on her bed with a stony expression. Katie and Rachel soon joined her.

"Why don't you show them this?" Rachel suggested, lifting a picture of Leshia and her parents off the bedside table. "Maybe then they'll believe you." Leshia shook her head.

"I'm not going to bother. I'm just going to focus on my game and that's it," the small girl said firmly. Katie and Rachel exchanged a grimace.

"They're going to drive us all mad," the raven-haired girl finally said miserably and after a moment's pause Leshia nodded.

"Yep!"

XXX

Everyone else's guests were entirely lovely and when the girls managed to escape after a few hours to the common room for some light relief from their American 'friends' they found it mostly deserted. Only a few loner-types remained behind while everyone else was no doubt showing their guests around. Somehow Leshia and her friends had pawned Petra and Heather off on Ashley and Nicole, giving them a few hours to work out a game plan on how to stay sane while in the presence of their new room mates.

"I swear if they moan about one more thing," Rachel seethed; on their way out of the dormitory Petra had just been announcing how the dormitory smelled funny. The girl had actually meant that it smelled old, but all five Gryffindor girls took it as a personal insult about their hygiene.

"If they didn't do it in such a sneaky underhand way then I could deal with it," Leshia added. "But it's just the way they sound so nice when they're saying it that drives me mad."  
"I think they're stupid airheads," Katie concluded tetchily. "So, what's the plan? Nicky and Ash will be furious if we leave them with the girls all day."

"Well we could take them for a tour of the Forbidden Forest and abandon them there?" Rachel suggested cheerfully. Leshia snorted with laughter at the thought of it, but Katie gave her cousin a strict look.

"Be serious Rachel," the oldest of the three admonished, but then a small smile tugged onto her pretty face. "And don't tempt me."

"Don't you have to take part in that opening ceremony thing Dumbledore was talking about this morning?" Rachel now asked Leshia, who shrugged her shoulders with a dumfounded look on her face. "Shouldn't you know these things?"

"Hey, nobody tells me anything," Leshia chuckled. "I just go with the flow." Rachel grinned amusedly at the blonde girl and was about to make a teasing remark when the portrait hole swung forward and most of the third year boys climbed in with their two Australian friends in pursuit. Seeing their friends sprawled over the sofas the boys quickly made their way over. Where one moment they had been comfortably relaxing, the next the girls found themselves either sat on, shoved aside or leaned upon. Leshia happened to go through a process of all three until finally Parys decided how he wanted to sit: feet resting on Leshia's shoulders.

"Parys I'm not a foot rest," the girl laughed and she pushed her friend's feet from her shoulders to her lap. The newcomers stayed clear of disturbing the girls and instead opted for the footstools by the hearth.

"This is Harvey and Jesse," Rodeo announced for the girls' sake, nodding first to the more blonde of the two blonde boys and then to his neighbour. They could have passed for brothers. "Guys," Rodeo was continuing, looking now at his new friends. "This is Leshia, Rachel and Katie." After a few waves and muffled 'hellos' all round the atmosphere relaxed a little.

"Leesh plays seeker for the firsts," Parys piped up, reaching out with his toes to poke Leshia in the face. "Don't you shorty?"

"Parys," Leshia complained fondly and she shoved his foot down again.

"What do you guys play?" Rachel piped up; staring at the boys with a strange look Leshia had never seen on her face before.

"We're beaters," Harvey replied in an accent the redhead found simply divine. The joy must have shown on her face because the bohemian boy grinned at her. "Your accent sounds just as funny to us."

"Please, no more accents," Katie grumbled. "We've already had those nitwits upstairs imitating us all morning."

"Who's a nitwit?" Rodeo asked amusedly; he rarely saw Katie riled up, but it amused him no end.

"Our two girls, they're so incredibly idiotic it begs belief."

"They're not that bad," Leshia snickered.

"Oh really, so when they were drooling over your dad they were positively delightful were they?" Katie countered with one eyebrow raised at her short friend. Leshia shifted uncomfortably.

"Well…"

"Wait a second, they fancy your dad?" Parys asked in amazement. Leshia glowered at him playfully.

"And what's more, they think she's a pathological liar…or a little crazy," Katie continued. She was met by questioning looks. "She told them to back off because he's her dad and they didn't believe her."

"Seriously?" Parys was by now in fits of laughter, which were only mildly stifled when Leshia started pummelling him with the cushion she had been leaning on.

"Who's your dad?" Harvey spoke up curiously.

"You saw him," Rodeo explained. "He was telling off that second year kid in the entrance hall." For a moment both Harvey and Jesse's eyes went wide and they looked to Leshia slightly fearfully. What had Draco done now?

"He's not that bad," Leshia quickly explained.

"Yeah he is," Parys assured the newcomers. "But it's okay, Leesh isn't like him all the time."

"Oh that is _it_!" Leshia laughed aloud, before she went all out in attacking the boy in a play fight that had everyone in stitches of laughter. By the time the girl had exhausted herself the others were chatting again, which they promptly stopped doing when the fifth year boys wandered in with their guests. Leshia particularly stared in wonder as two boys from the school in Senegal followed the Gryffindors in. Tom and Luke Weasley, the beaters on Gryffindor squad and cousins of Katie and Rachel, led their friends and newcomers over to the already large group relaxing on the sofas.

"Hey," they all offered and momentarily there was an exchange nods and smiles, while the boys introduced the newcomers to each other. The two from Senegal turned out to be Emeka (preferring to go by his nickname Emi) and Adama.

"This is the girl we were telling you about," Tom spoke up when silence lulled over the group. Leshia cringed and looked away before the redhead Weasley even had a chance to stride over to her and drop his hand on top of her head. "This is Leshia, she's our seeker." The boy that had been introduced as Emeka stepped forward and held a large hand out to Leshia who uncertainly shook it with an impish smile on her face.

"Um, hi," she offered.

"I am also a seeker," the boy explained.

"Oh right," Leshia replied. "Cool." For a moment a brilliant smile flashed onto the young man's face, before he nodded to the girl and stepped back beside his friend.

"We were going to go down to the quidditch pitch and show them round, anyone wanna come with?" Luke suggested to the crowd. The boys were definitely in, as they had been wanting to show their Australian friends the pitch all morning, but hadn't quite built up the momentum to go out into the cold.

"These stairs are so steep, I'm gonna break my neck on them before the week's through." The sound of yet more complaining wafted out from the stairwell and like three jack-in-a-boxes the girls were on their feet.

"We're coming," they said simultaneously and rushed out ahead of the others. The walk was a pleasant one, and even though it was cold there was such a degree of international bonding going on that nobody noticed. Rachel and Harvey seemed to drift off into a world of their own and while Katie and Rodeo kept Jesse amused Leshia found herself walking alone with Emi.

"So you're from Senegal right?"

"Not exactly no," the young man replied. "I am from Nigeria, but my school is in Senegal. And you, you are from England?" Leshia nodded.

"Yep, born and raised in London."

"Ah London, I have always wanted to visit this place." Leshia wrinkled her brow.

"It's nothing special, just lots of muggles and their muggle traffic," she shrugged. Emi laughed deeply.

"Where I come from London seems such a faraway place. My mother is a how do you say it? Muggle." Leshia nodded, suppressing her grin at the boy's pronunciation of the word. "When she was younger all she ever wanted was to come to England and live in London."

"She never did it?" Leshia wondered.

"No," Emi laughed. "She met my father and now she can go wherever she wants whenever she wants. She does not like to stay in one place very long. I believe she and my father are staying in Nepal at the moment." Leshia grinned.

"That sounds like so much fun! I wish I could say mine are the same, but they're both teachers here and live on the third floor." Emi seemed surprised.

"Your mother and father are both teachers?" Leshia nodded. "Here?" Once more a nod, accompanied by an impish smile.

"Yeah go on, laugh at me for being a teacher's pet," the girl chuckled, but Emi didn't seem inclined to laugh at her.

"Why should I laugh? Being a teacher is a very honourable profession. When a person has parents who are honourable they too become honourable." Taking this insightful and rather deep comment as a compliment Leshia beamed at the boy and nodded, hoping he wouldn't get to know her father too well lest he find out that once upon a time Draco Malfoy was the least honourable young man in England.

The quidditch pitch impressed both lots of newcomers, who explained on their way back to the castle that their own pitches needed a lot of improvement before they might host an ISQT. The snow had started falling and this seemed to awe the boys even more than the pitch, who had seen snow so rarely in their lives; indeed Emi confessed he had never come across it in all his seventeen years. It took an immense amount of persuasion to lure the four foreigners in, but finally they conceded when they heard about the delicious lunch the houselves had prepared. And boy, had they outdone themselves today! Leshia and her friends had never seen the likes of such fineries in the great hall, nor such lavish decorations strung about the place. Christmas may have been over a week away, but it was already going full swing in the great hall at Hogwarts.

Though it was impossible (surely?) the hall seemed longer than usual to accommodate the extra influx of pupils – after all, with nine visiting schools, each one bringing a team of seven and a team of seven reserves the grand total of extra pupils equalled one-hundred and twenty six heads. Gryffindor table, like all the others, was bursting with colour and everywhere they looked beaming smiles showed that international relations were going strong. The newcomers even appeared to be having a good time over on Slytherin's table. Though they desperately wanted to sit down with Luke, Tom and their guests, where indeed Rodeo and Parys had led their new friends, the girls had to make their way down the table to where a furious Ashley and Nicola were still minding Petra and Heather, who had if anything, started complaining more. Even the glorious food was being picked to pieces – figuratively speaking of course – for being too calorific for the liking of these two model-esque young women.

"Hi," Leshia tried brightly when they sat down with their dorm-mates and their guests.

"Where have you lot been?" Nicola asked icily.

"Pressing business in the ahm, library," Rachel replied with a large bright entirely fake smile. The two girls across the table seemed far from convinced and for a moment they conveyed through their glares that after lunch the two Salemers would be their problem! Petra and Heather, if they had noticed the hostilities, weren't paying them any attention, as both were staring up at the head table with dreamy expressions. It took Leshia a while to notice them, but when she did she instantly regretted following their gaze to her father.

"Please stop staring at him like that," the girl pleaded. "It completely gives me the creeps!" As one the two attractive girls spun around and stared at the small girl.

"Okay," Petra began slowly. "So it was funny the first time. The second time it was pretty creepy, but now this? You either have a seriously twisted sense of humour, or you're losing it honey."

"Stop calling me honey," Leshia grumbled. "And why do you think I'm lying? Why would I lie about something like this?"

"If he really is your dad then why did he call you Miss Malfoy this morning?" Heather asked pointedly.

"He always calls me that in school and I call him Professor Malfoy," Leshia explained. "It's so I can be normal like everybody else." The two American girls exchanged a cruel grin, as though mocking the girl for thinking she might be normal. "Oh get over yourselves," Leshia grumbled and turned around so that her back was facing the girls, who started tittering gleefully.

"Cows," Leshia mouthed furiously. The afternoon didn't improve, as despite her head-to-head with the girls, she wasn't excused from chaperoning the 'two pains' around. Thankfully come five-o clock Leshia was summoned to the quidditch pitch with her team to go over the welcoming ceremony events. The show was going to be an action packed display of Hogwarts' superiority and only now did Leshia find out that groups of pupils had been practising all over the show for this very day. There were bands, orchestras, choirs, performers, dancers and even synchronised broom dancing scheduled for the evening's entertainment.

Though across the pitch the two pains were stood with their team being instructed on the night's schedule by Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch, Leshia felt she had finally got away from them and was consequently in a deliriously good mood. It had not escaped the team's attention.

"You're happy," Owen remarked amusedly, walking up beside the girl and following her gaze.

"Damn right I'm happy," Leshia beamed at the boy. "I'm free from _them_!" Owen started laughing.

"Not getting along? Aw, what a shame," he chuckled. The girl turned a frown on him.

"You don't seem surprised."

"Yeah well I figured as such, the two guys staying with us are pretty cool and they said nobody on their team or even in their whole school likes those two girls. The only reason people put up with them is because they're good at quidditch," the boy explained. Leshia felt a twang of anger.

"They're good are they?" Owen raised his eyebrows and nodded, leaning backwards and forwards on his heals.

"Sorry shorty."

"Oh, that means they're _really_ good," Leshia groaned, before she sighed heavily. "So yours are nice are they?"

"What Dave and Jorge? Yeah, they're great. I can't be near Jorge without cracking up, he's the funniest guy I've ever met, and Dave, well he's alright, bit of a weirdo, but still, he's cool."

"So why'd we get the rejects?" Leshia grumbled. Once more Owen started laughing, which earned him a glare from the girl, but she couldn't stay mad at him, not when his face was so lit up from his mirth. It melted her resolve within seconds. "Want to swap?"

"Hey I wouldn't mind, they're pretty fit." Owen laughed even louder when he saw the girl scrunch up her face and turn her back on him with her arms crossed. "I'm kidding dearest, you know you're the only woman for me." The boy had slung his arm around Leshia's shoulders and for a moment they stared at one another in surprise. What had Owen just said? It had been intended as a joke, and had worked in the past with female friends, but now, with Leshia it seemed all wrong.

"Um, yeah, so this ceremony," Owen managed through multiple clearings of his throat.

"I can't believe I hadn't heard about it," Leshia added sounding awkward.

"Yeah they kept it pretty secret." With this their forced conversation was over and after an apologetic grin at the girl Owen ducked out and went to talk with the Mills twins. Leshia chewed on the insides of her mouth and looked up in time to catch Valerie Beckett glowering at her. The small blonde girl glowered back triumphantly.

XXX

The ceremony was indeed incredibly impressive, with each team putting on a little show (entirely choreographed of course and it did rather put the Hogwarts teams to shame, who had not planned anything). The firsts embarrassment about not having an impressive display of their team's strength or agility soon subsided when they saw the breathtaking performance that had been planned. Hogwarts may have gone down 9-0 early on in the evening, but they certainly came out the victors in the end. The delicious dinner that was laid on afterwards sealed their fate as the most talked about school when everyone turned in for the night.

The following morning the third year Gryffindors awoke to the sound of loud chattering. With heavily furrowed brows each of the girls looked to their clocks to see what time it was, as it certainly didn't feel like their usual hour of waking up. They soon found in outrage that it was six-o clock.

"What are you two doing?" Katie it would seem was going to confront them about it, and after grinning broadly and egging Katie on silently Leshia rolled over and peered through her curtains to see the raven-haired girl had clambered out of bed and was facing off with the two American girls clad alarmingly in quidditch gear.

"We're going to practice if you must know," Heather told Katie with a putout expression; clearly she didn't feel the younger girl had the right to question them on their activities. Leshia's face fell: practice? They were going to train at six in the morning?

"You what?" the blonde girl couldn't help but splutter. The two Americans turned their smug expressions on her.

"Practice?" Petra explained patronisingly. "You know? Where you train with your team so you can win."

"I know what practicing is," Leshia snapped. "But why the heck are you practicing at six in the morning?"

"Actually we normally start at five," Heather corrected. "But today coach let us have a lie in because we got to bed so late." Leshia's expression was one of horror.

"Why?" was all she could manage.

"Because we're going to win," Petra's reply came, a cool and steely smile on her made-up face. For a moment Leshia locked eyes with the girl, wanting more than anything to storm across the dormitory and throw her out of the window.

"We'll see about that," the smaller girl finally stated coolly, before she pulled back through her curtains and pulled her duvet over her head. The argument in the dormitory did not cool down after her exit.

"Look, you can practice whenever you bloody well like. Practice from midnight till dawn for all I care, but you might have the common courtesy to respect the fact that the rest of us are asleep and keep it down," Katie was continuing. The two Americans sized her up, and then quite simply turned their backs on her and continued with their conversation even louder than before. Katie had never looked so surprised and outraged. Long after the two girls had disappeared down the spiral staircase Katie still stood routed to the spot fuming in anger at their treatment of her. Finally after everyone had fallen asleep again Katie shook herself from her mood,

"You had better thrash them tomorrow Leesh, or I'm never speaking to you again!"

"Would you all just go back to _sleep_!" came Ashley's despairing warning and not a peep was heard until the girls woke at seven-thirty to dress for the day. They kept silent as they pulled on their uniforms and noticed that Petra and Heather had not yet returned.

"Well I'm not waiting for them," Katie announced and she flounced off. "I'd rather poke my eyes out with a blunt stick."

"Katie," Rachel exclaimed in impressed surprise. "When did you get so dark?" Deciding that none of them would wait for the two visitors all five Gryffindor girls set off for breakfast discussing what they might do about their terrifically rude guests. Going to the teachers was ruled out, as they would no doubt find some way of blaming the five third years for all the upset, which would not do. Getting their own back seemed out too, due to the fact that they would get detention for the rest of their lives for endangering the success of the tournament. No, it seemed the only way to truly stick it to them was to beat them at quidditch and this meant it all lay squarely on Leshia's shoulders. Over breakfast the youngster didn't speak a word at the unfairness of it all. As if she needed more pressure to perform?

Just as they were leaving the great hall to head off for morning lessons they were joined by the Salem girls. With neither Hogwarts nor Salem having a game until after lessons the girls would be joining the Gryffindors on their daily schedule, so it came as rather an annoyance that the girls were late for breakfast.

"You don't have time for breakfast," Katie told the two older girls as they flounced past dressed once more immaculately – they had evidently spent the last hour or so carefully preening themselves to look so perfect. "If you're late for lessons here you get detention, and we're not getting in trouble for you."

"Oh lighten up four-eyes, we don't eat breakfast," Heather jeered snidely.

"Hey," Leshia complained defensively. "What is your problem? Katie's done nothing wrong, you've got no right to talk to her like that." For a moment the two girls sized her up, until eventually Petra managed through a snigger,

"You're right, that was uncalled for. Heather, lighten up." There was absolutely not sentiment behind her words and now Leshia saw how truly Slytherin-like these girls were. They ought to have been housed in that house, there they wouldn't have much to complain about, they would have fitted right in.

"Come on, we'll be late for charms unless we hurry," Rachel told her friends uneasily and so they hurried off. It was safe to say that the American girls didn't keep their negativity to themselves throughout the day's lessons, so much so that even the Slytherins who had shared the lessons with them wanted to oust them for their cheek; to suggest that the work they were carrying out was 'baby stuff' was abhorrent. Send them back where they came from!

Come two-thirty the moment Leshia had been dreading arrived: Defence Against the Dark Arts. As usual the youngsters all lined up outside the classroom awaiting the arrival of Professor Malfoy. Petra and Heather seemed to be preening themselves even more now they were to come face to face with the Adonis himself. It was sickening Leshia to the core.

"You might want to tuck in your T-shirts, he probably won't let you in like that," the youngster tried, extending perhaps the smallest of olive branches to prevent the two girls from being embarrassed by her father. They took her branch and snapped it.

"Oh get real, as if!" Heather laughed. Though the two Salemers didn't heed her warning, it did filter back through the queue of pupils and after a few moments the six other guests being hosted by the other dormitories in this class had tucked in their tops so as not to get in trouble with this teacher they had heard so much about. The two Australian boys Harvey and Jesse, who had witnessed Draco's punishing a second year, seemed terrified at the very thought of having to sit down with this man for an hour and a half and were the first to comply.

Long loping strides alerted the class to the impending arrival of their dichotic teacher and as one they jumped back into the wall. Draco had reached them within moments. He glanced up and down the queue, trying his very best to ignore the way his daughter's guests were swooning at him, inspecting the shirt-situation.

"You two," Draco finally spoke, looking up at the American girls. "I don't know if you've been told, but here at Hogwarts we have a strict shirts tucked-in policy, so if you want to enter my classroom then I would do something about it." The two girls promptly lost their smiles and hurried to tuck in their skimpy t-shirts as best as they could. At the sight of them Leshia couldn't help the glee that sprung on her face, nor the whisper she blurted out to Rachel and Katie,

"They had that one coming."

"Miss Malfoy," Draco raised his voice and Leshia looked at him in surprise. "Do I need to remind you about the rules as well? After two and a half years I had rather hoped I would no longer have to repeat myself. I do so hate repeating myself."

"But sir we're not even in the…"

"Do you wish to join me after class Miss Malfoy? Because I hear you have prior arrangements." Leshia bit her lip and hung her head slightly, feeling the colour rising in her cheeks. Her father's treating her as though she weren't anything to him wasn't helping her cause, and even now Petra and Heather were smirking at her. Inside the classroom the youngsters found the by-now-uninteresting extra eight desks and quite deliberately Heather and Petra sat either side of Leshia in Katie and Rachel's usual seats. With Draco watching the class like a hawk, the girls couldn't object and her friends opted instead to sit behind and in front of Leshia to console her against whatever torture Heather and Petra were going to put her through this lesson.

"Welcome to those of you not usually in this class," Draco spoke once everyone had taken their seats. "My name is Professor Malfoy and this is Defence Against the Dark Arts. This will be a one and a half hour lesson, if you abide by the rules and participate in my class then it will go much quicker I assure you." A polite tittering filled the class. "First order of the day, last week's homework." As had become routine Draco flung a pile of parchments into the air, which dutifully zoomed back to their respective owners. Upon turning to the back page Leshia saw a large O gleaming out at her, beneath which her father had scrawled:

_Bored me silly in paragraph two, I have read the book you regurgitated from over a hundred times, but overall outstanding_

Leshia furrowed her brow as she reread her father's mixed message. Over her shoulder Petra was scanning the script, finding it hard to read, though she was suppressing a loud snigger at the result. Quite unknowledgeable about Hogwarts' marking system, and with Salem High's rather muggle approach to marking – A through F – O seemed absolutely abysmal. Draco noticed.

"Do you have a problem miss…" He trailed off, his eyebrows raised in silent demand of a name and his eyes steely; he had seen what had the girl sniggering so. Why was she laughing at his daughter?

"Walsh," Petra replied, lingering on every letter of her name. "Petra Walsh."

"Miss Walsh, perhaps you didn't notice at the beginning of this lesson when I told Miss Malfoy off for breaking the no silence rule."

"No I noticed Mr Mal…"

"_Professor_ Malfoy if you please," Draco interrupted in a steely tone. "And I'm glad you noticed, but this does then bring me to the question of why you did not feel this rule was applicable to yourself." Petra felt her cheeks flushing and for a moment Leshia smiled down at her desk, not daring herself to look up lest she lose control and burst out laughing at the unpleasant girl.

"I didn't…" The girl trailed off. "Sorry."

"Very well," Draco sighed loudly. "I had hoped that I would not have to spell it out to you, but to save myself from repeating myself countless times down the line, allow me to explain the rules to you newcomers. The five tenants I demand from you while you are in my lesson are arrive on time, arrive presentable, participate in my lessons, be respectful of one another and be silent unless you have been invited to talk. Does everybody understand? Because the next person who breaks one of these rules will receive detention regardless of what school you are in, whether you have a quidditch match or not, or even if you have a terribly sick aunt on her deathbed. Do I make myself clear?" The class nodded quickly in response. "You Miss Walsh having broken three of my rules are on thin ice, so be aware that even the remotest hint or inkling that you are about to break another will land you in detention." With a silent whoop of triumph Leshia finally looked up to see Petra wrinkling her brow in confusion: which three rules had she broken? Silence that was one, appear presentable was possibly two, but what was the third?

"Respecting each other," Leshia mouthed to the girl when her father turned his back to write something on the board. Petra narrowed her eyes in dislike at the girl and continued to act out of sorts all lesson long. Not a peep about how easy the work was (because in all honesty they had not done this before) or any other criticism about the lesson emerged from the two girls and Leshia for one was happy for the pause in their moaning.

When the bell for the end of the day rang Leshia wasn't surprised to be asked to remain behind, which she did obediently. After everyone had filed out Draco approached her desk for once and leant against it, reaching out to ruffle his daughter's hair.

"So little one, what's the story with those two visitors of yours?" he asked amusedly.

"They're insufferable dad," Leshia wailed petulantly. "They complain about everything, fancy _you_, and when I told them to stop it because you're you know, my dad, they didn't believe me! They think I'm either lying or completely and utterly mental." To her surprise Draco started laughing.

"They don't believe you?" he chuckled "Why's that then? Am I too youthful looking?" The young man swept back an imaginary mane of hair that made Leshia snigger.

"Sure dad, yeah that must be it. Absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they're totally off their rockers!" Draco smiled at his daughter adoringly and reached out to squeeze the back of her neck comfortingly.

"Ignore them," he advised her.

"I can't just ignore them," Leshia grumbled. "They're driving us all insane and they've only been here twenty-four hours."

"Well what would you prefer? I could get out the baby pictures in your next lesson if you'd rather and tell everyone the intimate details of all your most embarrassing childhood moments. That would prove it beyond all doubt wouldn't it?" Her father was enjoying himself and as such Leshia pulled a face at him.

"No, they'd think I'd put you up to it," the girl sighed before she pulled her satchel strap onto her shoulder and found her feet. A look of nervousness crossed her face that only her mother or father could have noticed.

"Don't be nervous," Draco assured his daughter brusquely, knowing that his daughter was now fixating on that afternoon's match versus the French school Beaubatons. "They're a bunch of girls. You'll thrash them."

XXX

And what a thrashing it was, after only twenty minutes the game was over with a thrilling score of 380 to 10 in Hogwarts' favour. It had been the first match of the afternoon and as such everyone had turned out to watch it. The atmosphere was electric with the home crowd going mad over their home victory. Though Leshia's catch hadn't been one of her more spectacular occasions, her performance, and the performance of the whole team, had been solid. The team looked unbeatable.

In the stands Katie and Rachel had felt particularly gleeful when they saw the concerned looks upon the Salemers faces. The two girls masked their disappointment at Hogwarts' superiority well, but it was still clear to all those who had only ever seen smug disdain on their two pretty faces. The two cousins couldn't have been more ecstatic to see Petra and Heather be taken down a peg or two. After Leshia had caught the snitch the two Americans disappeared from sight. Their match wasn't till the evening slot, which started at seven after dinner (the time slot predicted to draw the largest crowd). So it was too early to be rushing off for practice or team talks; secretly Katie and Rachel felt the two girls had slinked off to avoid having to congratulate Leshia on her performance.

Several victory laps later and Leshia was enjoying a warm shower, followed by a team talk in which the Hogwarts Captain, Slytherin's James Flint, bestowed praise upon his team. The day, which had started out so horribly, was brightening up after all and finally when Leshia managed to make her way back to the common room with a very talkative Owen and Mila they were welcomed with ear-piercing applause, before being whisked off to the comfortable seats.

"You lot were amazing!" Tom Weasley crowed. "Even without us there to cover your backs."

"The Mills twins did a good job, we must confess," Luke added through a snigger. He was evidently thinking about the moment the two large twins had collided mid air chasing the same bludger.

"Provided some pretty good entertainment too," his cousin chuckled and for a moment the common room was enveloped by hearty laughter and mirth. Leshia was about to excuse herself in order to find her friends when suddenly two visiting youths appeared and congratulated Owen on his fine performance. Their accents gave their school away and for a moment Leshia felt a bit rigid with fear, were all the Salemers as insufferable as her two? Owen had already assured her that Petra and Heather were an anomaly, but until she witnessed it for herself, she wouldn't quite believe it.

"Malfoy this is Jorge," Owen was now speaking, his hand indicating the Hispanic-American boy with a large mop of brown tight curls, an overly large smile and moon-shaped bright brown eyes. He looked enchanting.

"You were pretty good out there kiddo," the foreigner told Leshia amusingly. "Too bad you had to catch the damn thing so fast, we were trying to analyse your tactics to think up a way to beat you guys tomorrow." The boy was joking, but Leshia still felt a shiver of fear at the thought of playing Salem tomorrow evening. What if they lost?

"But that is our tactic," the girl replied cockily. "If you want to beat us you'll have to get there before I do." The common room roared in approval and Jorge started laughing.

"Good point," he conceded, before he made way for his friend.

"This is Dave," Owen spoke up once more. Dave couldn't have contrasted more to his friend, as with snow-white skin jet-black hair and frightening black eyes, the boy didn't look as though his face could handle smiling. Indeed, Leshia felt it might crack if he even tried. He didn't say a word to Leshia and made his exit quite soon after appearing.

"What did I do wrong?" Leshia whispered to Owen when the noise grew once more to acceptable levels for private conversations. The tall boy frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Owen are you blind? Your guy Dave just ignored me."

"He's just shy, don't worry about it." But Leshia did worry about it, and she worried even more about it over dinner when she noticed the strange way Dave was watching her. She didn't like it one bit. The table was once more filled with the jubilant chatter of the home crowd and their visitors. Even up at the top table the teachers seemed to be enjoying themselves mingling with the various staff that had accompanied the foreign pupils. Draco appeared to be wrapped up in a very interesting conversation with the coach of the Durmstrang team, while Hermione was happily catching up with the two women that had accompanied the Americas Institute players; she had of course known them when she worked there during her stint of 'disappearance', when she had actually been living a false life in South America with amnesia.

Rachel and Harvey, the Australian boy staying with Rodeo and Parys, seemed to have entirely forgotten that there was anyone else at the table and were so entirely wrapped up in their own world that not once did Rachel notice the significant grins Katie and Leshia were passing each other.

"She's in love," Katie mouthed to her blonde friend and for a moment Leshia laughed so hard even Rachel resurfaced to see what had happened. Though Katie's suggestion may have been taking it a bit far, it did look as though Parys was out of a date for the ball Rachel had agreed to accompany him to. During dinner Emi made his way down the table from where he and his friends were sat and nodded to Leshia with a big smile.

"I saw you play this afternoon," he said approvingly. "You are very skilled. I hope that we will meet at some point in this tournament."

"Thanks," Leshia blushed. "How did your game go this morning?"

"It went well thank you." This seemed to be it for their conversation and after a nod the boy excused himself and exited the hall with several of his team mates.

"That has got to be the most modest guy on the planet," Rodeo sighed admiringly, staring after the hulking seeker almost enviously.

"Why?" Katie enquired.

"Because, they won like four hundred and ten points to ten." Leshia's eyes went wide and she spun around again to watch as Emi left the hall. For the remainder of the dinner the youngsters caught up with those who had gone to watch matches, until the clock struck quarter to seven prompting a mass surge of people to start moving toward the quidditch pitch. Leshia and her friends followed the crowd and found some good seats within no time.

"Who are they playing?"

"The Dutch school, Laakstang," Katie replied.

"Hey I've been there, in first year," Leshia piped up when she remembered where she'd heard the name. "It's tiny, I can't believe they'd have a quidditch team! So, we're supporting Laakstang right?" In a chorus of laughter her friends agreed and as such when the Dutch team did their warming up lap they were some of the few cheering them on enthusiastically.

Within no time the game had begun bringing down with it Leshia's hopes and morale. Salem High were sickeningly good, with an aggressive and accurate duo of beaters, a solid keeper, a very tactically sound team of chasers who seemed to be almost telepathic with one another, and though it pained Leshia to admit it, a very able seeker. Petra may have looked all grace and elegance on the ground, but this was nothing to how natural she looked on a broom. It didn't take long for the girls to notice their male friends were staring at the beautiful American seeker in admiration.

"You _don't_ fancy her do you?" Katie demanded of Rodeo and Parys.

"Well no," Parys lied.

"You do know she's horrid don't you?" Leshia checked with one eyebrow raised in disapproval.

"Hey," Parys chuckled. "We don't wanna marry the girl, but we can still look right?" The girls exchanged a look of reprove before they focused their efforts on the game at hand. Laakstang weren't a bad team; they had one particularly fantastic chaser who seemed to be scoring a tremendous amount of goals despite the valiant keepers attempts to keep most of them out, whereas down the other end Laakstang's brilliant keeper was making sure they were pulling ahead ever so slowly. Up above the two seekers circled the pitch, with Petra's superior flying skills distracting Salem's fans from the travesty that was going on below: Salem were trailing 10 to 60. Exactly how this had happened she wasn't sure (she hadn't after all been studying the breath taking performance of the star chaser and keeper on the apposing side), but she damn well wasn't going to let it continue any longer.

Her mission now set Petra threw herself more determinedly into the game, and while everyone was still enthralled by the gritty action going on mid-level Leshia watched her new nemesis very carefully. With every death defying swoop and dive the girl made Leshia's heart sank lower and lower. Petra was good. Petra was in fact very very good. How would she be able to compete?

"Hey look, the harpy's seen the snitch," Rachel suddenly exclaimed over the roar of excitement and true enough, Petra was diving. The Laakstang seeker didn't stand a chance. Within seconds it was all over for the Dutch team who had played so valiantly.

"Agh," Rodeo complained over the cheers in congratulations of the victors. "I was enjoying that. The problem is you seekers are getting too bloody fast for your own good." Leshia grinned wryly at the boy.

"Well maybe you chasers should try and keep up and score faster goals." The crowds started to surge back towards the castle and in all the excitement and chatter Leshia managed to remain silent as she contemplated Petra's performance. When they reached Gryffindor tower she was finally called on it.

"What's wrong with you? I know Salem won, but they weren't the better team out there. You guys'll hammer them," Rachel told her best friend with a big grin.

"Petra's really good Rach," the blonde girl replied with a sigh. The look of disbelief on the redhead's face was priceless.

"Excuse me? Do you actually think she's better than you? Because I'm telling you now Leesh, that's crazy talk! You're twice the seeker she is. Trust me." After a polite smile Leshia ducked out of the conversation, heading instead for the stairs. She had lots of homework to do and with two games the following day she would have lots of work to catch up on later as well. Katie joined her, ever the conscientious one, and within no time they were sprawled over Leshia's bed painstakingly reading star chart after star chart for their divination assignment.

Leshia had just finished writing, _due to a conflict between Saturn and Venus combined with a waning moon difficult times lie ahead, _when the door to the dormitory flung open and in waltzed the two triumphant Salemers. They were evidently the type of sportsman who would not only be guilty of being a bad loser, but also treated winning in the worst possible way: with excessive arrogance, smugness, disregard for the feelings of the opposition and a misplaced sense of total superiority.

"Congratulations," Leshia called out to them; she on the other hand, prided herself on her high level of sportsmanship. "That was a really great catch," she offered to Petra. The two girls smiled cockily.

"Thanks," Petra replied breezily, acting as though she had just won the world cup when in actual fact her catch of the snitch had been quite mundane. "We were awesome, you guys better watch out tomorrow." For a moment Leshia fought the urge to roll her eyes, but finally she settled her face into a pained smile, before she turned back on her work.Katie was shaking with anger, and though Leshia tried to head off an outburst on her friend's part, she was unfortunately unsuccessful.

"What did you think of our game?" Katie demanded angrily, eliciting two very bitchy smiles from the girls.

"You guys did okay," Heather simply muttered, before the two friends turned on one another and started chattering about the highs and lows of their performance and how they were quite frankly the best team at the tournament.

"They're just winding you up Katie, ignore them. They've obviously got nothing better to do with their time." Leshia told her friend simply when it looked as though Katie was about to march across the dormitory and started cursing the two Salemers then and there. "Now help me with this," the girl continued when it didn't seem as though Katie were backing down. "Because the way I've worked it out, on the eighteenth I'm going to be either having a baby or killing someone…or maybe both."

"Let's hope it's the latter," Katie grumbled darkly, before she assumed a bright smile and helped her friend correct the glaring mistakes in her homework.

It was late when Rachel finally retreated to the dormitory wearing a very silly smile. Katie and Leshia, still hard at work grinned at one another, before they turned on their red-haired friend amusedly.

"So," Katie announced, grabbing Rachel's attention. "Where have you been?"

"Me and Harvey just had the most exciting game of chess I've ever had," the girl gushed while she changed into her pyjamas.

"You've been spending an awful lot of time with Harvey lately," Leshia remarked with a furrowed brow. Rachel paused and glanced up at her friends with a strange expression. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"No," Rachel stammered promptly, the colour rising in her cheeks as she lied. "There's nothing to tell. We're friends okay? I'm going to bed, I'm tired." With this she climbed onto her bed and shut the curtains without so much as a 'goodnight'. Katie and Leshia looked to one another in confusion.

"Rach?" Katie called out, but the only response she got was the loud and over the top snores coming from Rachel's bed. Leshia shook her head at her raven-haired friend and turned back on the Potions assignment she had been working on.

"She'll tell us when she's ready."

"You know," Katie pondered aloud. "Out of all of us, she is by _far_ the most secretive."

"Yeah we already knew that though. What with your inability to keep your emotions to yourself and with everyone already knowing what's going to happen to me about ten seconds before I do she's by default going to have the most secrets," Leshia chuckled.

"Well, it's just not what you'd expect from Rachel is it? I wonder how many secrets she's keeping from us."

XXX

The following morning Hogwarts once more played astonishingly well to beat the Chinese school Xí Xiào 240 to 50. The only difference being that this time Leshia's catch was beautiful to watch as she raced the Chinese seeker Huan Li to within an inch of her life in order to catch the small golden ball. It was a frightening affair to behold, with a plummeting dive that nearly had Katie looking away, but in the end she was glad she had held out as Leshia caught the snitch inches from the ground.

The game had coincided with break time and for twenty-five minutes the Hogwarts team had enjoyed the full support of the school. However, as the game had gone on for an hour and a half only a handful of supporters had been able to watch. No matter though, as before the team had even managed to change and rejoin their classes, word of their fantastic victory had swept through the school, ensuring that every person they passed clapped them on the back in congratulations.

Petra and Heather, who had watched the whole thing with Katie and Rachel said not a word to Leshia or any of the other Hogwarts players. Their minds were entirely focused on that evening's match when the two quidditch giants would meet in battle on the quidditch pitch. Leshia's performance had shaken Petra's unwavering confidence and for the first time she actually felt respectful of the little seeker, something she covered up for with an immense amount of unpleasantness.

Come evening time the confidence the morning's game had instilled in Leshia had all but waned and now she sat at dinner in complete and utter silence, literally jumping out of her seat whenever someone spoke to her and she wasn't expecting it. It was painful for her friends to see and nobody could quite figure out what had Leshia so worried. To them it was clear as day, all biases aside, that the Hogwarts seeker by _far_ outranked the interloper from Salem. So why the small girl should be so concerned was beyond them. Paralysed by her doubts Leshia was in a very dangerous position; everything hung in the balance and it all depended on her pulling it together before the seven-o clock game.

"Leesh," Rodeo spoke up towards the end of dinner, when people had already started to leave for the pitch. His large blue eyes spoke only of concern. "You'll be alright kid, you know that don't you?"

"Yeah," Katie added worriedly. "Just go out there and do your thing."

"And don't let Petra get on your case, she's more scared of you than you are of her. Difference is she'll use her fear and turn it on you, don't let her," Rachel added in a moment of clarity.

"Thanks guys," Leshia uttered, before she climbed to her feet and joined Owen and Mila down the table in order to go and change for the game. Where Leshia was terrified her two peers were excited.

"We're going to wipe the floor with them," Owen announced on their way out to the changing rooms.

"Of course we will," Mila laughed. "But don't lose sight of your game. You just have to focus on keeping that quaffle out of the hoops and _you_ just have to catch the snitch before they do."

"Sure," Leshia managed, her throat nearly entirely closed up from the constriction her terror was placing upon it.

"Are you okay Malfoy?" Owen asked concernedly. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine, really!"

The stands around the quidditch pitch had not seen the likes of such an audience in a long time. Everyone had turned up to see the bloodbath between the two arguably better teams of the tournament; so much so, that not a soul was left inside. Even the ghosts had arrived in the teachers box to watch the spectacle unfold. Team songs were whirring round the stadium like sirens and laughing faces filled every spare seat and every bleacher. Hogwarts flags were being flown in their hundreds and here and there colossal Hogwarts emblems that had been emblazoned on sheets stood out against the warmly clad audience.

It was into this frenzy that the teams emerged in a burst of energy. Speeding round the pitch as fast as they could the Hogwarts team evoked from their supporters such a noise it was a wonder they didn't hear them in Hogsmeade, but even this electrifying atmosphere wasn't enough to shake Leshia from her worries. Facing off with the Salem crowd Leshia dared to look up to find Petra watching her with the smuggest look she had ever mustered in Leshia's presence. Shaken, the small girl looked away.

'I can't do this,' a small voice piped up in the back of her thoughts.

"Go away, yes I can!" Madam Hooch was making the slow walk towards the box of balls in the centre of the pitch, which she opened unceremoniously with a firm kick. Speeding off into the cold night the bludgers and snitch went, and after a moment's hesitation in which the whole school roared with anticipation the referee threw the quaffle into the air.

Hogwarts took possession and off they went, the team of amalgamated chasers putting on a show for their supporters. Up above Leshia was rising slowly to get to her usual vantage point in order to better seek out the snitch, while down below Petra, who had sunk below the mid-level state of play was speeding arm stretched out ahead of her. Leshia saw the girl and though for a moment she felt the girl might be feigning in order to draw Leshia into a psychologically exhausting battle, after a few moments it became clear this was no ploy: this was the real thing.

Without a moment's hesitation Leshia threw herself downwards, falling with such pace that she was no longer sitting on her broom, merely clutching at it with two tightly gripped hands. Dangerously she fell straight through the field of play, nearly coming a cropper two battling chasers and one beater on her path. Had the situation not been so disastrous then people would have been in awe of her skills at this moment in time, but as it was, this was not the time for celebrating.

Though through tremendous effort Leshia managed to catch up to within the tail twigs of her rival's broom, Petra Walsh, after only one minutes of game play had enjoyed too great a head start and as such felt her fingers enclose around the snitch. It was all over, Hogwarts had lost! For a moment there was complete silence while down below the two seekers collided. Petra, too overjoyed with herself, stopped midair ensuring Leshia, who had been just on her tail crashed straight into her. The two girls fell no great distance to the ground where a drama ensued that Hogwarts had never seen the likes of before.

Though the Salem girl wasn't badly injured Leshia's head was spinning to such a degree she could barely stand up straight. Petra took the crash as a personal attack from a sore loser and as such dived at Leshia the moment she found her feet after the fall. The crowds, now having regained their voice, were outraged that the game was over before it had really began and felt foul play _must _have been involved. Stand by stand swarmed the pitch, outright rioting the fact that they had lost, while in the midst of the chaos Leshia was trying her utmost best to stay standing while receiving a terribly unwelcome attack from the triumphant seeker.

"Stop what you are doing, all of you!" the most powerful voice any had ever heard broke over the chaos; they were helpless to obey. Up in the teacher's box Albus Dumbledore was on his feet, his wand pointing to his throat to magically enhanced his already venerable voice. His colleagues had disappeared from his side and were by now spreading out amongst the children in order to keep the peace. Hermione and Draco had but one pupil in mind and after struggling through the hoards of unhappy children they reached the two seekers, who alone of all the children had not stopped at Dumbledore's command.

"What are you doing?" Hermione demanded when they came across the pair locked in a rather one-sided battle.

"She crashed into me on purpose!" Petra yelled furiously, flinging her hand at Leshia in fury. Hermione had by now rushed to her daughter's side, who collapsed against her very unsure of which end of her blurry vision was up and which was down.

"You silly girl," the mother was now exclaiming in anger. "She was right behind you when you stopped midair! There was nowhere for her to go. What is the matter with you? Leshia darling can you hear me? Draco help me!" Petra stared in wonder at Leshia and her mother and then her eyes flew to Draco, who had not yet said a word, but was glaring at the American girl with such anger she wanted very much to run away; she had finally worked it out.

"Do not move a muscle," Draco finally spoke, addressing Petra in such a way she wouldn't dare disobey. Following this Draco joined his wife at their daughter's side where he crouched before the dizzy girl.

"Leshia?" he spoke slowly and calmly, reaching out with his hand to steady the girl's chin and raise her head.

"I'm going to be sick," was all the girl could manage, before quite unceremoniously she was. It took Draco an immense amount of speed to get out of the way in time.

"We have to get her to the hospital wing, she's got concussion," Draco told his wife while he rubbed the girl's back comfortingly. By now the crowds were clearing upon Dumbledore's instructions to return to their dormitories. The emptying pitch allowed Jason Cunningham, the coach of the Salem High team and their only chaperone here on this adventure, to find his seeker and see the mess she had caused.

"Petra!" the rather portly old man called out to the girl the moment he was in earshot. "What do you think you're playing at attacking this girl like that?"

"But coach," the girl tried defensively, finally finding the arrogance she had based her whole life upon.

"Don't 'but coach' me," Cunningham countered furiously and for a moment he stood panting as he reached the scene of the crime and had to get his breath back. "I have half a mind to kick you off the team and give Harbourer a shot at glory." Petra's eyes flew as wide as dinner plates. "Oh calm down, of course I won't do that. We're in for a shot at gold here kiddo." The man's disapproval at his star player's conduct had evidently been purely for the sake of keeping up appearances and now his true sentiments were revealed; he was proud of his seeker, fighting and all.

"Actually," Draco spoke up. "When the rules for the ISQT were being drafted tight attention was paid to rules of conduct and I wouldn't be at all surprised if your seeker here has broken them to such an extent she will be sent home." Both Coach Cunningham and Petra turned to Draco in anger.

"No way is she being sent home," the portly coach insisted. "It was a misunderstanding. Besides, technically that girl started it by crashing into Petra." Evidently this man had not been informed of Draco and Hermione's connection to 'that girl' or he would not have spoken so bluntly about her.

"Why you," Hermione began sounding outraged, but promptly stopped when Leshia once more resumed her unpleasant spell of vomiting.

"We will discuss this with the headmaster," Draco told the two Americans. "You should return to the staff room, I will go and fetch him and we shall discuss this rationally."

"Draco she really needs to get to Poppy," Hermione loudly interrupted before Cunningham could reply. The urgency in his wife's tone caused Draco to turn around and she Leshia was now slumping entirely against her mother; she was losing consciousness. Without hesitation he reached forward and lifted the girl from the ground.

"Excuse us," he said simply, before he started towards the castle with Hermione right by his side tending to her daughter worriedly.

"Hey, what about the headmaster?" Cunningham called after them.

"Go to the staff room, we will find him and join you after we've brought our daughter to hospital wing," Draco called back with a trace of anger trespassing on in his tone.

"Daughter?" Cunningham turned on Petra with confusion in his face. She rolled her eyes, once more using her arrogance to cover up for the shame of having accused the girl of lying and having beaten her up when she was already half battered from the crash.

"Don't ask."

XXX

A quick potion later and Leshia was back on her feet with a slight headache. Though physically she had been put back together again, nothing could mend her heartbreak at having lost the game for her team and the whole school.

"Leshia you can't blame yourself," Hermione insisted on the walk down to the staff room. Draco had excused himself to go and find Dumbledore and inform him of the situation.

"Why?" Leshia countered meekly. "It _is_ my fault. They won because she got there first. I just…I just wasn't quick enough."

"But darling it was out of your control. The snitch must have gone to hide right by her. There was nothing anyone could do." No matter how hard she tried nothing could console Hermione's daughter, especially when she came face to face with the girl who had beaten her. Mother and daughter reached the staff room before Draco had located Dumbledore, but Petra and her coach had found their way okay and were talking amusedly when they arrived. Silence ensued as Hermione sat down near the others, dragging Leshia down at her side by her arm, which she squeezed comfortingly before she let it go.

For ten minutes they waited in silence until finally the door to the staff room opened once again, this time preceding the arrival of Albus Dumbledore, Madam Hooch and Draco. The latter sat down on Leshia's other side, effectively cocooning the girl in between her parents, while Dumbledore assumed a much more neutral position between the two parties.

"Are you alright Leshia?" Madam Hooch asked her seeker worriedly and for a moment Leshia smiled at the concern; she had messed up and yet still her coach cared?

"Yeah I'm okay thanks," she replied reassuringly and then had to smile again when Madam Hooch beamed at her and nodded.

"Good. We need you." Once the eccentric sports professor had sat down on Hermione's other side the meeting was ready to begin. Everyone looked to Albus Dumbledore expectantly, who had taken from the folds of his robes a long parchment emblazoned with the new emblem designed for the ISQT.

"I have here," the venerable wizard spoke slowly. "A copy of the rules of this tournament. Rules that have this very evening, been broken." It was a sign of the utmost respect Dumbledore commanded that neither Cunningham nor Petra interrupted him at this stage. "Please, allow me to read to you code of conduct number two, 'Fighting, whether it be on the pitch or off, will not be tolerated to any extent. Such a crime will be punished by immediate disqualification and expulsion from the tournament. Visiting players will be returned to their schools forthwith and hosting players will be removed from the team and forbidden from attending any matches or partaking in any tournament events'." With this Dumbledore paused and rolled the parchment up once more, looking now at Petra Walsh with a disappointed expression. "So far, I have felt nothing but pride of the way in which the visiting players and our very own pupils have befriended one another on and off the pitch. This tournament is achieving everything it was set out to do: forge friendships between the great quidditch-playing schools of the world. That is, until this evening when everything seems to have gone rather awry. Miss Walsh, can you please explain to us what prompted you to attack Miss Malfoy?" Petra squirmed a little under the gaze of the most powerful wizard alive.

"I thought she crashed into me on purpose, I was angry." Albus contemplated the girl for a moment; yes she was proud and arrogant, but in her explanation of the events he found no lies.

"Did you know Leshia was suffering from concussion and could barely stand?"

"Hermione please," Albus told the young mother calmly, his fondness for her permeating his tone.

"She's made a good point Albus," Draco backed up his wife. "Whether her intentions were to defend herself against what she believed to be a first strike by Leshia, the fact of the matter remains; she attacked someone who could not even stay on her feet."

"I didn't know she was concussed," Petra defended herself.

"No maybe not at first, but surely you might have noticed when she did not fight you back?" Draco countered protectively. Petra shrugged sheepishly.

"I just thought she was really bad at fighting," she offered. Draco looked to the ceiling in frustration, counting to ten in order to refrain from losing his temper.

"Oh this is pointless," Madam Hooch finally spoke up. "All this is meaningless. She should be sent home straight away."

"Why?" Coach Cunningham now demanded. "She thought she was defending herself. There was a clear misunderstanding and she shouldn't be punished for it. Please, it's not fair to send her home when she's the best seeker in this tournament." Leshia hung her head in misery wanting more than anything to be set free from this farce of a meeting. Obviously Petra wasn't going to be sent home, no matter how many people she had fighting her corner.

"More like the luckiest," Hooch muttered in an undertone.

"What was that?" Petra demanded.

"Enough," Albus Dumbledore sighed heavily, drawing once more with ease the attention in the room onto himself. "This is indeed a difficult situation. The rules are clear that fighting is not to be tolerated and yet I cannot argue with Miss Walsh' convictions. I agree she felt she was defending herself, and after tonight's impressive performance I feel it would be doubly cruel to send her away for such a misunderstanding." Leshia shut her eyes; so, Dumbledore felt Petra was the better seeker out of the two as well?

"Albus just look at what she did to our daughter," Hermione tried desperately, lifting Leshia's chin to show the bruises on her face. The girl kept her eyes tightly shut.

"Hermione I understand this has been very upsetting for you, but you must see how fate had played a cruel hand in this."

"Her cry of innocence might carry more weight were she to show even the remotest sign of remorse," Hermione exclaimed furiously as she climbed to her feet. Leshia jumped up beside her in order to get out of the room as soon as possible. "But as she is evidently pleased with herself I have to entirely disagree with your decision Albus." With this the woman stormed out with Leshia clamped firmly to her side under one arm. Draco watched them leave longing to go with them, but knowing he had to stay. There were more things to sort out.

"I don't think it's a good idea for the girls to continue to share a dormitory."

XXX

Leshia's dismay had deepened and try as she might Hermione couldn't repair the girl's confidence. Her explanation of Albus Dumbledore's words as mere diplomacy went in one ear and out the other where Leshia was concerned. She was not so easily consoled and when they parted at the portrait of the Fat Lady Leshia could see the makings of tears in her overly emotional mother's eyes. This only furthered Leshia's depression, who retreated into the common room with an immense sense of shame.

Inside the crowd of Gryffindors and their visiting guests stopped and stared in silence at the unlucky girl, who despite having all odds against her had put on such a show of her flying ability that none doubted her to be the most talented flyer in the tournament. To come within the wake of the Salem seeker, who had enjoyed such a head start it begged belief that Leshia had caught up, was a victory in itself and everyone respected her for it.

Very slowly people started to clap and before too long the whole common room was filled with applause. Their faith in her managed to bring a smile to the girl's battered face and after a moment's hesitation she bowed to a chorus of laughter and praise. The confident Leshia of old was back and she did not object to being swept along by the crowds until she reached her friends and team mates.

"Are you okay Leesh?" Rachel asked her best friend worriedly, making room for the girl on the sofa by unceremoniously pushing Parys off it. The boy didn't mind and guided Leshia into the seat when she seemed reluctant to take it after his expulsion from it.

"Yeah, that maniac really laid into you," the tall boy added before he sat down at the girl's feet.

"Yeah I'm fine," Leshia sighed. "Just hate the fact that we lost. Now we'll never win."

"What are you talking about Malfoy?" Owen Gabriel demanded. "We can still finish second in the pool which means we'll face whoever wins pool B in the semis." Leshia looked up at the boy hopefully.

"We haven't lost yet?"

"Far from it. This just makes it a little more exciting, that's all. All we have to do is beat the Dutchies on Thursday and we're through."

That night before the girls went to bed they received a visit from the head of their house. Professor McGonagall explained to the third year Gryffindors that there was to be a change of plan where the guest arrangements were concerned. Petra and Heather would be moving out and upon hearing this news the girls couldn't help but cheer jubilantly. McGonagall couldn't agree more with them and as such didn't reprimand them for their behaviour.

"So we won't have any guests anymore?" Ashley asked disappointedly; everyone in the school had a guest or two, it would be most unfortunate were they to be the only ones without. McGonagall smiled at the girl.

"No my dear, in one of the other houses there has been a case of incompatibility as well and as such two girls are in desperate need of a new dormitory to stay in. I feel they would much better match your age and interests than the guests you have already been so unlucky with. May I tell the headmaster you agree to the swap?"

"Yes please!" the unanimous response came. McGonagall smiled once more at the eagerness of the youngsters and when she took her leave she directed an especially warm smile at Leshia; a smile that looked incredibly out of place on her normally bemused face.

"Excellent flying this evening Malfoy, you were very unlucky not to win." With this the old witch disappeared only to return half an hour later with two small Hispanic looking girls. The girls vaguely recognised them as being part of the Americas Institute crowd. Both were reserves.

"Ladies," McGonagall addressed the Hogwarts girls. "This is Julia Pirés and Carmen Garcia, they are with the Americas Institute group." Leshia and her dorm mates waved excitedly at the newcomers, who seemed to be grinning back an awful lot; they had been placed with such an awful dormitory prior to this one and were much relieved to see these new girls looked nice. "Right then, all your things have been moved so I'll leave you girls to it." After the venerable witch had departed all the girls relaxed a little and before they had even introduced themselves the Hogwarts girls led their new guests to their dormitory. Just the sight of the room was a relief to the new girls, who had most disliked their prior lodgings.

"Who were you staying with before?" Rachel asked eagerly; she and the others had been arguing over whether it was Hufflepuff or Slytherin.

"The one underground," Carmen offered in stilted English. This didn't offer much insight as both Slytherin and Hufflepuff had subterranean common rooms.

"Um the one with all the snakes? Sleetherin is it called?" Julia added.

"Told you!" Leshia crowed triumphantly at the others, quite alarming their new visitors. "Oh, sorry, we just had a bet over which house you were with. I'm not surprise you hated Slytherin, they're a bunch of snakes themselves. I'm Leshia by the way, Leshia Malfoy."

"Yes we know," Julia beamed at the girl. "You are the daughter of Señorita Westcoast no?" For a moment Leshia looked blank.

"You what?" But then it all clicked into place and she quickly nodded. "_Oh_ right. Yeah, I am." Back when Hermione had been living under amnesia in America she had gone by the name Leshia Westcoast, a name she had been given when she washed up on the west shores of the United States muttering incomprehensible sentences and only remembering the name Leshia.

"Your mother was our favourite teacher when she was at our school," Julia was continuing. "We were very sad when she left." Leshia grinned meekly eliciting a very apologetic look form Julia, who now realised what she had said. "But it was very good your mother came home to you of course…"

"I get what you mean," Leshia chuckled, before she stepped aside so as her friends could introduce themselves. It turned out that the two newcomers were also in their third year, or rather, the equivalent of third year, and were both reserve Chasers. The dorm they had been assigned to belonged to the second year Slytherin girls, who had been so unpleasant that after one hour the two guests had wanted to go home. They had been seeking out a swap since they arrived and after only one hour with the Gryffindor girls, the two youngsters felt the wait had been worth it: they had hit the jackpot.

XXX

Life with Carmen and Julia was much more enjoyable than life had been with the two girls from Salem and already strong friendships had been forged between the two sets of girls. With the departure of the insufferable pair Leshia's confidence was growing back, though it was also nice to have a day off from matches on Wednesday to enjoy the other games without something niggling at the back of her mind. Come Thursday and Hogwarts played a solid game of quidditch to beat the Dutch team of Laakstang 230 to 50 ensuring they finished second in their group. Salem High had beaten Beaubatons that morning to clinch the coveted top spot in the pool, but no matter, Hogwarts were through and that was all that mattered.

By dinnertime a large sign had been posted on the notice board dictating what time the two semi-finals were going to be held the following day. Hogwarts had been given the prime time of seven-o clock which was most definitely a plus, but what was less satisfying was that their opponent was to be the seemingly unbeatable school from Senegal, who had beaten every team in their pool with ease to come top of the group. Salem high would be facing Durmstrang at four, a much more manageable opponent.

Over dinner the atmosphere at Gryffindor table was electric as usual. Leshia, Katie and the boys were entertaining Julia and Carmen into fits of laughter, while Rachel and Harvey, her new beau, retreated into their usual private conversations. During the main course Emi, the seeker from Senegal made his way back up the table in search of Leshia and contrary to his past brief bouts of speaking before disappearing, this time he sat beside her and they talked for the remainder of the evening all the way back to Gryffindor tower. The tall hulking boy was fascinating to Leshia and after witnessing his many stunning performances she had nothing but the utmost respect for him. When they parted to go to bed both were egging the other on over their game tomorrow, which meant that instead of going to sleep terrified about the following day's big game, Leshia was in fact looking forward to it.

XXX

"Oh my God, I haven't finished my dress!" came the cry that woke all the girls in the third year's dormitory at some ungodly hour. The culprit of the morning call was Katie, who had decided since completing her dress that it was in fact a terrible piece of clothing and was now very much despairing over what she could do about it. The ball was taking place that evening after Gryffindors battle with the École du soleil de sorcellerie.

"Katie your dress is fabulous, go back to bed," Rachel called back less than comfortingly.

"No it's not, it's hideous!" the raven-haired girl wept. A loud groan permeated the room, after which a ruffled looking Leshia emerged from her bed.

"What's wrong with it?" the puffy-eyed blonde girl asked, trying to force herself to sound concerned.

"Leesh she's just freaking out over nothing. Leave her and go back to bed," Rachel insisted, though she knew Leshia would do no such thing.

"Look at this," Katie uttered pathetically, pulling at the strands of floaty material she had attached to the shoulder straps. "I'm going to look like a circus freak." Leshia sniggered, but soon repented when her friend glared at her. "Why can't it be more like yours?" Katie now whimpered as she looked across the room at the pretty simple dress Leshia had crafted together that now hung on the end of her bed,

"Because I didn't go overboard," Leshia replied with a grin. "Come on, we'll go downstairs and fix it." After a pathetic little nod Katie sniffed loudly and collected together her dress making things.

"I'm not coming," Rachel insisted loudly, but already a foot was emerging from her curtains. Leshia and Katie exchanged a grin.

"Good, we don't want you to," the blonde girl laughed.

"I'm really not coming!" But by now a very tired looking Rachel had appeared, who pulled her dressing gown about herself and waltzed out of the room ahead of her friends. They grinned once more to each other before following their friend out.

Katie's dress required a little touching up, but more than anything this early morning sewing session gave the girls ample time to catch up and chat with just the three of them. With the invasion of so many new friends they had barely had any time to themselves. And even though most of their morning was spent teasing Rachel over her 'boyfriend' (a claim she flat out denied) it slowly began to dawn on them that this would be their last proper day at the castle for two whole weeks.

"It's going to be so strange being on my own again," Leshia said sadly.

"I hope you don't mind if I come and live at your place," Rachel added. "My parents can't even be in the same room as each other anymore. It's so depressing." Katie and Leshia remained in absolute silence as they watched their redhead friend. Perhaps the early morning had made the girl more inclined to open up, but all in all, this was the most Katie and Leshia had heard about their friend's suffering at home. "It got so bad in the summer that Ria and the twins came and stayed in my room each night." She was referring to three of her many younger siblings. Rachel had now trailed off, evidently her bout of 'sharing' was over and it had left Katie and Leshia pained; they had no idea things had got so bad for Rachel's family.

"You _know_ you can come and live at mine any time you like," Leshia finally spoke trying to sound natural as though Rachel hadn't revealed anything. "Right then Potter, I think this monstrosity has finally been transformed into something quite cool."

"Oh get you _Malfoy_," Katie laughed, but there was a certain element of truth to Leshia's words. With the rescued dress the girls made their way upstairs again and as it was practically time to get up anyway they changed into their uniforms and made their way down the breakfast.

XXX

Draco yawned loudly and stretched under the thick covers. Sleep had been coming so easily to him as of late and he welcomed it with open arms. His whole life he had been an insomniac coming and going in bouts that left him awake most of the nights at their worst. Rolling onto his side Draco reached out an arm to find his beautiful wife, but instead of the soft curves of Hermione's body the young man's hand grasped instead at the sheets of a deserted bed.

"'Mione?" he called out into the gloom, most put out that he had been denied this opportunity to cuddle his wife; soon they would be home and privacy was not bountiful when you had a fourteen-year-old and her friends commandeering the house. The sound of retching wafted out from the bathroom and in moments Draco was on his feet. He crossed the room to the bathroom with two paces and wrenched the door open to find poor Hermione crouched by the toilet. "You're not being sick again," Draco announced sounding alarmed, before he quickly fetched a glass of water for his wife from the sink in the bathroom.

"It's nothing," his wife lied tiredly. "Probably that chicken from last night." Draco lowered his brow in suspicion.

"I ate the chicken too last night and I'm fine. So why don't you stop lying and tell me what the hell is going on? You've been funny all term! First all that throwing up in the beginning and every day you've found something to cry about and now you're back on this again. So why don't you tell me and save both of us a lot of hassle?" His temper was rising; how he hated people lying to him, especially Hermione. For a moment Hermione remained silent while she flushed the toilet and washed her face. Her husband's steely gaze brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't hold out any longer!

"Draco I'm pregnant."

Absolute silence. Slowly, Hermione turned around to face her husband and found him looking more shell-shocked than ever she saw him.

"You're…" he finally spoke uncertainly. "You're…um…"

"Pregnant." Draco's mouth opened and closed as though words were trying to escape from it, but no sound came. For the first time in a very long time Draco Malfoy didn't know what to say. "Don't be angry…"

"I'm not angry," the young man cut in quickly and it was true, no trace of anger laced his voice. "I'm…" He trailed off and rubbed at the back of his head anxiously, his eyes moving down his wife until they settled on her stomach. Now he came to think of it, she had been looking a little rounder lately, but this he had enjoyed. Hermione had always been far too thin despite her efforts to put on weight for a womanlier figure.

"You're not happy," Hermione stated miserably. Her hands flew to her bump protectively, trying to comfort herself in thoughts of her unborn child.

"I'm surprised," Draco countered passionately, yet still no anger entered his mind. "Have you known all this time?" After a slight pause his wife nodded dolefully. Two tears rolled down her cheeks causing Draco to shut his eyes; he couldn't see Hermione cry, it broke his heart and with all the crying she had been doing that a lot lately.

"I didn't know how to tell you," the young woman cried mournfully. "I knew you didn't want another baby. I just…I didn't know what to do." The despair in her voice was too much and after snapping his eyes open Draco crossed the short space that separated he and his wife and pulled Hermione into his arms firmly.

"I'm not angry," he repeated as she wept freely into his shoulder. "I…I don't…" Infinite thoughts were whirring round his poor head. Nothing was differentiating into a single comprehensible train of thought, making assessing his feelings on the matter impossible. Quite suddenly he pulled away and looked deeply into his wife's eyes a glimmer of a smile on his shocked face. "You're _really_ having a baby?" Hermione nodded stiltedly, hardly daring to hope that Draco actually seemed happy about the new turn of events. "We're having another child?"

"Yes," Hermione managed breathily before quite suddenly Draco kissed her with such passion she would have tumbled to the ground had he not reached out and caught her. Finally Draco had made up his mind, finally he his emotions had differentiated into complete and utter jubilation: he was going to be a father again!

More and more over the last few months had Leshia's impending growing up and flying the nest been at the forefront of Draco's thinking. She was growing up far too fast for his liking. Where had his little girl gone? He found himself regularly pining for the days when instead of falling for every handsome young man who smiled her way the thought of 'boys' made her squirm in adorable disgust. He couldn't turn back time, but now he would get the chance to do it all over again!

"Wait a minute," the young man suddenly exclaimed and he pulled back looking once more shocked. "What about Leshia?"

XXX

Breakfast was as glorious as ever. Semi-final day had brought with it an extra rambunctiousness to the youngsters, who were virtually bouncing off the walls in excitement for the impending big matches after school and the ball that the evening would bring. Leshia too found herself entirely swept up in the excitement of the day. Everywhere she looked people were watching her, shooting her winning smiles whenever she caught their gaze. She and the rest of the Hogwarts team had never enjoyed such celebrity status. Even the most unlikely people seemed suddenly supportive,

"Try not to fall off today Malfoy." The class had been waiting outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom when this statement had been made, causing everyone in the vicinity to turn around and stare in complete shock at he who had uttered it.

"Allseyer," Leshia exclaimed finally; complete and utter incredulity on her face. "_You're_ wishing me luck?" Allseyer bristled tetchily.

"No I'm not wishing you luck I'm just telling you not to fall off your bloody broom." With this the conversation was over and the pointy-featured boy spun on heal starting a very loud conversation with his thug-like friends.

"That is, without a doubt, the strangest thing that has ever happened," Rachel finally concluded slowly prompting a chorus of laughter from the Gryffindors and their new friends.

"Leesh where's your dad? He's five minutes late," Katie spoke over the laughter.

"He's probably got caught up telling some poor excitable sod off for being too happy or something," Leshia chuckled, effectively hiding her curiosity and concern with humour. Where _was_ her father? Five minutes later the fast paced footsteps of a man in a hurry sounded the arrival of the tardy teacher. He didn't even glance at anyone's shirts as he opened the door and hurried them in. Most were very reluctant to enter, as on their usual brusque teacher's face was the largest smile any, including Leshia, had ever seen him produce.

"Sorry I'm late," he told the youngsters once he'd reached the front of his class. "I got held up." Here he cast his daughter a look so powerful she jerked backwards in complete and utter confusion. What had happened to make her father so deliriously happy and yet so emotional towards her at the same time? "As you well know, today we had scheduled an end of term test to see whether any of what I've been telling you all year has actually sunk in…" He paused and lifted the papers to a chorus of muffled groans. "But I've changed my mind." Holding his wand to the tests they suddenly burst into flames and despite themselves every single youngster in the room cheered. "It's the last day of term after all, perhaps we should do something fun."

'Okay,' Leshia thought to herself. 'Now I'm worried.'

What followed was possibly the best lesson any of the third years could ever remember having. Sparring with jinxes, levitating one another through the air and playing with a family of small _Ragmols_ – a creature not dissimilar to a cross between a very small bear and a common household pet renowned for their affection towards humans – Draco had found in his study and was about to pass over to Hagrid, this lesson was not going to be soon forgotten.

The youngsters were enjoying themselves so tremendously that even the bell failed to turf them out. Draco couldn't muster the negative feelings to get angry with them and instead physically shepherded the youngsters out of the classroom. Leshia tried to remain behind.

"Dad what's wrong with you?" she asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Draco insisted, pushing the girl out along with the rest of her friends and peers.

"This is not nothing," Leshia insisted. "I think we should be calling some aurors in or something." Draco laughed heartily. "Or at least an exorcist."

"Get going, you'll be late for your mother's lesson," her father laughed warmly, but then he stopped and briefly hugged Leshia firmly to his side. "Good luck tonight little one." After he'd kissed her head he retreated into his classroom. Wanting very much to follow him back in Leshia had to be dragged away by her friends. On their way from Defence Against the Dark Arts to Hermione's classroom for Ancient Runes Leshia confided in her friends her concerns for her father's wellbeing. Though they agreed it was very unlike Leshia's father to appear so outwardly happy, they didn't think the girl should get so worried about it. That is, until they saw Hermione.

"Hello!" the young woman beamed at her class the moment they walked in. "I Hope everybody's ready for a fun packed end of term lesson." Leshia's jaw actually dropped as she stopped still in the doorway. Not her mother as well! "That," Hermione said fondly when she saw her daughter paused in the doorway. "Is a very good way of catching flies." Reaching out Hermione closed her daughter's mouth by pushing up her chin, before she ruffled the girl's hair and stepped aside for the youngsters to continue filing in having pushed Leshia out the way.

"Mum what…"

"Come on Leshia go and sit down, we haven't got all day. I've got lots planned for us all." Rachel and Katie ended up escorting their friend to their usual seats. Hermione was not wrong about her estimation of how much fun this lesson would turn out to be and soon everyone was gleefully playing the wizarding games Hermione had delved out from an old stockroom where they had long lain forgotten. Leshia's concern had now deepened and though she tried her best to partake in the activities she couldn't help but drift off and watch her mother from across the classroom; Hermione was glowing.

"I understand your concern," a voice spoke near to Leshia's left ear, and after spinning round she found Julius Black had taken a seat beside her to watch the game she was vaguely partaking in.

"You do?" Leshia asked incredulously. The dark haired boy nodded slowly.

"I too would be concerned if my parents suddenly started acting like that." The boy nodded across the classroom to where Hermione was spinning in a circle with a streamer, demonstrating to a group of girls a part of a game they didn't understand. Leshia turned back on Julius Black defensively.

"So she's happy, what's wrong with that?" Julius Black offered the girl an icy smile.

"You are going to have a lot to deal with this year Malfoy and the sooner you start taking advice the better. I don't know what all this is about, but what I told you before, it still stands. You're going to have to be vigilant and remember, never lose faith in what you know in here." At this the boy tapped two fingers on Leshia's forehead leaving a strange tingling sensation where he had rapped her on the head. "Even when everyone else turns against you, believe in yourself."

"What does that mean?" Leshia demanded, but Julius' message was over and he was climbing to his feet again. "Hey!" the girl complained and she jumped to her feet all set on following the boy.

"Leesh it's your turn!" Rachel piped up jubilantly and moments later the girl felt several hands on her and quite unceremoniously she was pulled back into her chair. Before she rolled the gemstones Leshia watched as Julius Black retook his seat, looked over his shoulder and grinned at her charmingly.

XXX

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, ghosts and ghouls welcome to the semi-final match between École du soleil de sorcellerie and Hogwarts." Thunderous applause and cheers filled the dark snowy night as the two teams emerged onto the pitch. The prior semi-final had enjoyed an audience to remember when Salem High just about beat Durmstrang to secure a place in the final, but nothing compared to the sheer energy coursing off this audience. The excitement of the week's games had reached fever pitch, with the ball-clad youngsters covering their beautiful garments with thick coats, scarves, hats and gloves jumping up and down in excitement and ecstasy waiting for the start of this sure-to-be tantalising game.

Leshia felt not a jot of nerves as she looked about herself in awe. Everywhere she looked she saw banners with her name and face occasionally flashing onto them amidst the names and faces of her fellow team mates. For as long as she would live she vowed never to forget this moment, because surely, never again would she be in such a position? Madam Hooch called the captains forward who warmly shook hands with one another and exchanged sentiments of luck to one another – James flint of Hogwarts was after all hosting and had made firm friends with Moussa N'Dour of Senegal. Quite surprisingly on the call for the two captains to greet Emi the seeker crossed the pitch as well and reached out for Leshia's hand. She quickly placed her ever so small hand in his larger than large one.

"Good luck to you my friend, I am happy to finally meet a worthy opponent in this tournament," the young man told his small friend amusedly. Leshia beamed up at him and returned his sentiments before the young man retreated to his side for the start of the game.

"Come on Hogwarts!" James Flint called out to his team as he mounted his broom. "This one's for _them_!" A hand flung at the audience around them spawned the whole school to start cheering. The powerful feelings evoked in Leshia made her head swim as she mounted her own broom and kicked off into the air in time to Madam Hooch's whistle. Soaring above the crowds the chants of the vast crowd were still very loud, but now her mind was focused entirely on the small gold ball jittering about somewhere in this vast pitch Leshia could no longer hear them.

Hogwarts had possession of the quaffle. Flint passed to Val, who tried to pass to Mila, but the pass was intercepted by a very determined Senegalese player. Like rockets the opposition's chasers launched their counterattack, catching Owen so off guard that their first strike at goal was an accurate one.

"And the École go ten points ahead to nothing with a stunning goal by Oluwa…Oluwi…um, Oluwat…how on Earth do you say this name?" Laughter broke out over the pitch as Hogwarts' commentator – a newcomer to this season – struggled with the foreign name. Muffled voices sounded in which the young man in charge of commentating was informed of the offending girl's nickname Olu to save from having to say her full name of Oluwatomisona each time. "Sorry about that, as I was saying, what a stunning second minute goal by Olu Agalaba."

Determined to take back the ten points the Hogwarts chasers fought back hard and fast, managing to claw back their taken ten points and another ten on top of that leaving the score after ten minutes at 20 to 10 in favour of the home team. The match was a gritty one, with forceful tactics just short of aggression dominating the mid-level play and even up in the clouds Leshia had never been forced to dodge so many bludgers as she did in this game. It was a comfort to Leshia that Emi scouted the skies near to her location, always keeping within twenty yards of the girl. Should either see the snitch it would be down to an old fashioned race between the two seekers that much was certain.

Wanting to test whether she was following him by chance or whether he was stalking her in the sky Leshia dropped into a dive quite suddenly, but not so as to look as though she had seen the snitch. The Senegalese youngster followed her promptly.

"Ah, so that's how you wanna roll is it?" Leshia chuckled into the snowy winds, before she rolled over onto her side performing manoeuvre after manoeuvre to test her friend's flying prowess. As it turned out, with Emi keeping up hair-raising stunt after hair-raising stunt, his flying skills seemed to match those of Leshia. Tired of her game and with a better understanding of how her friend could fly Leshia settled back into a scouting pattern. If either of them now saw the snitch Leshia was convinced that it would all come down to speed; they seemed matched for airborne expertise but were they matched for speed? Leshia was a much smaller person than Emi and though they had the same broom surely Leshia would be able to push hers to much further limits than he could?

Down below the École had pulled back into the lead with four fantastic attacks which left even Owen Gabriel, legendary keeper that he was, grasping for thin air while the quaffle sailed through one of the gold hoops. The score lay at 50 to 20, something that had the Hogwarts crowds roaring with disapproval. Calls for Flint, Beckett and Evanovitch to get their move on were ringing through the night.

"Why are we losing? They're keeper isn't even that good and we supposedly have the best junior keeper in the whole world sat there on his arse being useless," Rodeo put to his friends bemusedly in the stands.

"Rodeo stop picking on Owen Gabriel, he's saved more than he's let in!" Rachel complained.

"Yeah, why do you always have to badmouth him?" Katie added. Rodeo shifted uncomfortably.

"I just…oh bollocks." The boy's hand shot up to point to the huge falling shape that was Emi on a dive. He was feigning or he had seen the snitch, but either way Leshia was helpless to follow. The boy had a good lead on her and now as she chased his tail twigs she couldn't help but worry; the gap between them wasn't getting any smaller. The field of play shifted things in Leshia's favour as suddenly she found something she could beat the Senegalese boy at: dodging players. With utmost care Emi navigated his way through the fraught battle going on mid-level. Leshia, perhaps much more suicidal than her opposing seeker merely threw herself through the field of play, artfully dodging anything that came into her path. The result of her ever-so-precise control and quick reflexes was that the Hogwarts seeker emerged below the field of play before Emi. A flash of gold revealed that her friend had not been trying to trick her; he really had seen the snitch.

"Go Leshia!" a roar of agreement came from the audience and without hesitation Leshia threw herself behind the snitch with Emi only inches behind her. Together they tussled, darting round each other, trying to get ahead, but neither could quite make it. They were equally matched out here in the open.

"They're both too good," Rachel told her friends up in the stands. "They'll never beat each other this way."

"Did you see the way Leesh just melted through the chasers?" Parys yelled over the noise. "If the snitch goes into the field of play Leesh'll get it for sure. She's a much more agile flyer."

"Yeah, have you seen the size of Emeka?" Rodeo snorted, his admiration of the Senegalese seeker had only grown these past few days.

"Look!" Katie suddenly squealed in complete and utter excitement. The reason for the girl's sudden outburst was that both Emi and Leshia had rejoined the level of play and seemed to be staying there. The snitch was trying to hide in and amongst the chasers and beaters and with the amount of bodies and balls being thrown around at this level it probably would have been the best place to hide. 'Would have been' being the operative phrase, because even though with a normal set of seekers hunting it down this would have been sufficient enough cover, the snitch had not counted on Alecia Malfoy's talents in the mid-level.

With a grin of triumph Leshia pulled ahead of Emi, darting past chasers, quaffles, bludgers and beaters as though they weren't there. Within moments the large boy behind her had fallen away to such an extent the battle now lay between Leshia and the gold ball. Which one could out-fly the other in all this traffic?

All eyes were on the small Hogwarts seeker as she neared the home end goal hoops. Owen steadied himself as the small girl came rocketing towards him. Should he lose his nerve and try and move from her path it could cost them both the game if they collided. He was going to have to stand his ground.

Desperately the gold snitch shot through the largest of the hoops, but it's flight had been in vein as due to her sheer size Leshia flew straight through the hoop after it, her small fingers clasping around the ball with ease once they had reached the other side.

"Leshia Malfoy has caught the snitch!" Wave upon wave of roaring cheers filled the air. Hogwarts were through to the final and what a game it had been!

Leshia, still clutching the snitch, barely had time to look around before she found herself flattened by her fellow players. Carefully they navigated their way down to the grounds where they were fully able to jump on top of one another in complete triumph and jubilation. The small seeker found herself hoisted to the broad shoulders of the Mills twins, and together the team ran laps of honour round the pitch; it was as though they had already won the cup.

After warm showers and a congratulatory talk by Madam Hooch the youngsters were free to run back to their dormitories and change for the ball their peers had already started. It had just gone eight-o clock, which left five hours for the teams to enjoy themselves at the farewell ball. Straight after tomorrow's games the youngsters would all be going home whether they be Hogwarts or visitor. Once they had been freed from the talk Mila excused herself from her two fellow Gryffindors to sprint back. Her friends were waiting for her and would not wait very long! This left Leshia and Owen to amble back together; neither were too desperate to get to the ball – despite Owen having a date who would no doubt be waiting for him outside.

"You know, I've never seen anyone fly like you did this evening," Owen told his small friend truthfully. Leshia grinned and shoved his arm.

"Don't get all soft, that's such a lie! You must get to see the most amazing flyers in the world when you go to watch your mum's games." Owen stared at the girl with a firm look.

"Stop being so bloody modest, most people don't just throw themselves into the path of bludgers or beaters or chasers because most people get scared. You don't seem to."

"Of course I do," Leshia complained cheerfully. "It's just how bad could it get? The amount of terrible horrible painful things that have happened to me, what's a midair collision with a beater going to do to me? Break my head maybe, but that's about it." The look of admiration Owen gave Leshia nearly made her go weak at the knees, so she looked away from him. "This dance is going to be so dull. Do we even have to go?"

"Hey speak for yourself Malfoy, I'm rather looking forward to it," the tall youngster countered and he offered his friend a dashing smile. She rolled her eyes at him and brought up a more fitting conversation: how much she was going to enjoy beating Salem in the morning.

It took Leshia ten minutes to change into her dress and stick her unruly blonde curls on top of her head. Opting for some comfortable heelless shoes the girl was quite happy with the result the ensemble made and after pulling a shawl she had borrowed from her mother round her shoulders she rushed out of the dormitory again. She and Owen had agreed to walk down together and he said he was literally going to pull on his dress robes and that would be it. Leshia had promised she wasn't like most girls and would be ready within moments and she kept to her word.

"Come on Malfoy, we haven't got all day!" Owen called up the spiral staircase when he heard the dormitory door fly open and light footsteps sound in the stairwell. When Leshia finally appeared round the corner the breath caught in Owen's throat forcing him to choke. Leshia rushed to his side and thumped him on the back.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly once her friend had regained his breath.

"Yeah," the boy managed. "You look, well, you look really nice." Never before had he sounded so sincere and for a moment Leshia felt happier than she could recall. Even catching the snitch a mere half an hour earlier hadn't compared with the joy she now felt.

"So do you," she replied cheerfully before she led the way down to the great hall. Neither had any idea what a funny picture they made; both dressed in their evening wear it looked as though they were going as a couple and with he being so tall and she so short the image of them together was most humorous.

Down in the entrance hall there were many people still milling about who had only just reached the party or were waiting for friends or partners. In and amongst the crowds of people the fifth year Ravenclaw Charlotte Frances-Taylor waited impatiently. All her friends had gone in ahead of her and now she was being forced to wait for Owen Gabriel. It wasn't on! With a numerous amount of propositions to this dance Charlotte had felt particularly honoured by Owen Gabriel's asking her to the ball; he was after all the Hogwarts team keeper and rather dashing in his own way. Waiting around for him though had not been part of the deal.

Finally upon hearing his laughter the young woman looked up expectantly only to find her date for the evening descending the stairs with a tiny vision in white. Just who this mysterious beautiful creature was Charlotte had no idea, but upon seeing her date for the evening hanging on the girl's every word the young woman felt her blood boil.

'Keeps me hanging around all night and then shows up with another girl?' she thought to herself furiously. 'How _dare_ he!' She had now been spotted.

"Charlotte!" Owen called out to the young woman, who crossed her arms across her chest and raised her chin into the sky, looking anywhere but the approaching keeper and this mystery girl. "I hope you haven't been waiting long," Owen told the girl when he had come to within yards of her. He was wary of her attitude; the last thing he wanted was a girl with attitude. Valerie Beckett had come with more attitude than he could handle and since then the fifteen-year-old young man had learnt his lesson.

"Actually," Charlotte began tetchily, turning round to face off with Owen and the new girl. Quite promptly Charlotte's eyes went wide. "It's _you_!" She was staring at Leshia with such horror that the small girl actually took a step back.

"Um, I might just, uh, go," the girl excused herself, before she shot Owen a cautious look. "See you in there I guess." Without waiting for a reply the girl darted away into the great hall where she promptly stopped and stared about herself in awe. The hall had never looked so gorgeous as it did on this night. With rich colours draped from wall to wall and candles hovering in every available space, it was a Christmas masterpiece. Central to the hall's decorations was the colossal tree that had been missing all week, and from within its powerful bows little fireflies lit it up from branch to branch. Beautiful buffet tables lined one wall, while a large stage with a popular band lined the other. In between the beautifully dressed youngsters and certain adults were swaying slowly to the slow song being performed.

"Wow," Leshia sighed appreciatively. Catching sight of a head of red hair she recognised sat beside a sleek glossy head of black hair Leshia headed towards her friends in the distance. She had not got far before she was noticed.

People were staring at the girl making no attempt to hide their shock at seeing the small seeker appear so beautifully. Yes they had all known the girl was very pretty, but never before had her features seemed so striking, nor her tiny figure so feminine. She was most definitely a young woman in that dress! Leshia glared at the nosy crowd who parted for her as she walked past, and couldn't have been happier when she reached the table at the far end of the hall that her friends had commandeered. They all looked fabulous.

"Finally," Leshia groaned announcing her arrival to her friends who turned to stare at her. "Oh God, not you lot as well. Would everybody stop staring at me? God!" Fed up with the attention Leshia threw herself down in a seat beside Parys, who did not heed her in the slightest and still continued to stare the girl up and down. She rewarded him with a dead arm for his troubles.

"Ow," Parys protested loudly and he rubbed his sore arm. "Do you mind? Why do you make yourself look so nice if you don't want people to appreciate it." Leshia playfully glared at him.

"I didn't do anything, just put on a bloody dress that's all."

"Hey if that's all it takes," the tall boy chuckled adoringly, but quickly looked away from the girl when she raised her fist for another blow to his arm. "I'm not looking, I'm not looking!" he insisted with his hands raised in surrender.

"Leesh tonight's game was your best yet you little star," Rachel announced and suddenly the table's occupants remembered they had not yet congratulated the girl. In a chorus of noise Leshia blushed crimson at the praise they delivered on her shoulders, but she took it with much more grace and ease than she did compliments about her appearance.

"You know that girl Owen's with," Rachel finally changed the topic of conversation.

"Yeah, that's Charlotte Frances-Taylor," Leshia replied.

"Well she keeps glaring at you you know that right?" In surprise Leshia followed Rachel's gaze and true enough she was receiving a very evil glare from the fifth year Ravenclaw sat beside Owen who was chatting with his visitors from Salem High enthusiastically.

"More to the point, what does that Dave guy want?" Leshia grumbled when she noticed that once more the strange Dave from Salem High was watching her keenly. "He's so strange!"

"_That_ guy," Rodeo suddenly exclaimed. "I'd watch it if I were you Leshia, I've heard he fancies the pants off you!"

"Rodes," Leshia laughed at the boy's words, but the information he had passed on did worry the young girl something awful.

"No seriously, I've been meaning to tell you, they think he's like stalking you or something." The mirth of the situation suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"Who's they?" Leshia demanded.

"The fourth year boys."

"Owen knows?" Rodeo shifted tetchily at the mention of the other boy's name.

"Yes your precious Owen Gabriel knows."

"Care to dance?" Katie suddenly spoke up looking at her 'date' with a dance-with-me-or-suffer-the-consequences look. Rodeo was helpless to join the raven-haired girl, but as they walked past Leshia he did lean down beside her.

"Just watch your back okay?"

Upon Katie and Rodeo's departure it seemed Leshia was rather left to her own devices as everyone and their dates took to the dance floor. Perhaps regretting her decision not to say yes to any of the many propositions she received for the dance Leshia instead kept herself busy by laughing to herself about Rachel's love struck expression. She and Harvey were evidently in the throws of young love.

"Excuse me?" Leshia froze as someone sat down behind her; someone with an American accent. "I said excuse me?" Very slowly Leshia turned around and winced when her fears were confirmed: there sat the terrifying Dave.

"Hi," Leshia managed weakly, sounding very much like a scared child.

"I was wondering whether you would like to dance?" the boy asked firmly, his dark eyes frightening Leshia with the intensity within them.

"Um, I don't really um…no sorry." Dave leant back in his seat without another word to the girl, but he remained watching the back of her head when she turned her back on him. Every muscle in her body was tensed and after barely five minutes Leshia climbed to her feet and practically ran from the table to the drinks stand. Unfortunately for her, Leshia merely ran from one awkward situation to another.

"Hey shorty," Owen Gabriel called to Leshia when she appeared beside him and Charlotte. In fright Leshia spun around. "What's wrong with you?" the tall boy laughed fondly, much to the bemusement of the girl on his arm. "Something happened?"

"Um, no, nothing," Leshia quickly responded hastily, but her eyes couldn't lie about the worry that was ruining her evening. Seeing her so afraid made Owen lose his smile and he turned suddenly serious.

"Malfoy what's going on?"

"Nothing!"

"Owen drop it, she said nothing was wrong," Charlotte Frances-Taylor cut in impatiently. This was not the ball she had envisaged when she spent three hours preparing for it earlier on this afternoon. For her date to be paying more attention to a third year than to her was unfathomable. The beautiful Charlotte Frances-Taylor was not accustomed to being put second full stop. Owen flat-out ignored the girl, his attention on Leshia only.

"Look either you tell me or…"

"Oh stop it. You sound like my dad!" Leshia complained angrily. "Besides, you could have warned me about Dave. He's a nutter, he looked like he wanted to throw me over his shoulder and make a run for it." Owen seized up a little.

"Dave? What's he done?" Leshia rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

"Nothing." But this nothing was about to develop into a definite something when across the crowds the black-eyed black-haired boy was approaching with a look of cruel determination on his face.

"Oh," Owen uttered.

"Owen I want to go and dance," Charlotte spoke up once more, not giving up on her date just yet. Yes, she would easily find a replacement, but why should she have to?

"Um, not now," Owen vaguely replied, his attention almost entirely upon the boy closing in on Leshia. He could see what had the girl so wired, Dave looked positively evil.

"Follow my lead," the tall boy muttered under his breath as he disentangled his arm subtly from Charlotte's. His subtlety was in vein, as the approaching Salemer had not even noticed them stood beside the small seeker. "Dave!" the tall keeper called to his guest the moment the young man was in earshot.

"Oh, hello Owen," Dave replied, his eyes never leaving Leshia's face. The girl shuffled closer to Owen's side despite herself. "Leshia, please I insist, you must dance with me. It will be fun."

"Mate," Owen laughed uneasily. "I've been keeping quiet all week because I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but I can't believe you_ still _don't know." Everyone looked to Owen in surprise. "Leshia's _my_ girlfriend. You can't just ask her to dance you know that right?" His lies sounded so convincing that even Leshia believed him for a moment, especially so when he slung his arm around her shoulders. The height difference between them made them look ridiculous, but none could argue they did look made for one another.

"If she's your girlfriend then why did you bring another girl to the dance?" Dave questioned the taller boy icily.

"Charlotte and I had it planned a while back before me and Leshia got together, I was just keeping to my word," the boy lied easily.

"Ugh!" Charlotte finally snapped. She had had enough of this farce of a date and with one last tempestuous glare at the short girl under _her_ date's arm she strode off. Owen rolled his eyes amusedly before looking back to Dave.

"Ex girlfriends, you know how they can be," he chuckled. Dave nodded slowly, taking in every lie Owen was spinning. "Come on Malfoy, I believe you owe me a dance." With a quick nod and wide eyes Leshia allowed herself to be guided towards the centre of the dance floor.

"Thank you so much," the girl finally managed once Dave was well and truly out of sight.

"Don't be an idiot Malfoy, I should have said something sooner. I just thought I could protect you without you ever having to know about it that's all. I know it's a stupid male macho thing to do, but…"

"Yeah," Leshia interrupted. "But still, thanks." The pair locked their eyes together and for a moment a spark passed between them, one neither could ignore. "Um, I'd better go and find, um, my friends…"

"Malfoy I wasn't joking," Owen chuckled. "After that quality acting you do owe me a dance. Now come on, show me what you got." Completely enthralled by her rescuer Leshia was easily persuaded and so they danced. They danced a lot and they looked so convincing as boyfriend and girlfriend that the rumour mill went into overdrive. Before even three whole songs had passed the rumour reached the ears of Draco Malfoy.

"Have you seen Leshia Malfoy and Owen Gabriel?" a whisper caught the young man's attention. He spun around to see who had uttered it, finding it to be a second year girl whispering to her friends. "I heard Gracie Walker in third year telling her friends that they're going out."

"What?" Draco spluttered before he could contain himself. The girls spun around in horror to find the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher bearing down on them. "You heard what?"

"Um, that Leshia is going out with Owen Gabriel," the second year squeaked sounding terrified.

"Where are they?" Draco demanded and after the girl jerkily shot her hand in the direction of the dance floor the young man was off on the warpath. It took him only a few moments to locate his daughter locked in the arms of the keeper dancing to some soppy love song, looking entirely convincing in their lie. With one hand Draco took hold of Leshia's arm and wrenched her from the boy before he started leading her away briskly.

"You! Come with me!" The angry father was evidently addressing the tall boy he assumed to be his daughter's first boyfriend and after rolling his eyes to the heavens Owen Gabriel followed them off the dance floor to a quiet corner of the hall.

"Dad stop it!" Leshia cried out forcefully when it looked as though Draco was about to explode. "It's all just an act." Her revelation caught the words in Draco's mouth and he had to stop and stare at the girl.

"What?" he finally demanded, taking a moment to glare ferociously at the fearless boy who seemed impervious to his threats.

"There's this boy from Salem High who's stalking me, so Owen's pretending to be my boyfriend so Dave leaves me alone," Leshia explained quickly. Draco stared at the girl with narrowed eyes, searching her face for deceit.

"Pretending?"

"Yes pretending." Draco looked away for a moment before he started off into the dance floor.

"Right, Dave you say…"

"Professor Malfoy don't!" Owen called out. Both Leshia and her father turned very slowly to look at the boy in amazement. He certainly didn't fear Draco, which was more than most adults could profess to.

"What did you say?" Draco asked very slowly, the danger radiating from his very aura. This did not dissuade Owen.

"Sir if you go and do your thing with Dave then you'll blow our cover and for now this is working, so I don't think you should do anything," the young man explained. Draco seemed incredulous.

"Do my thing?"

"I understand you're very protective of your daughter, but sir she's safe with me. You don't have to worry." Leshia's admiration of her tall rescuer shot sky high into the beyond; finally, a member of the male species that did not cower in fear at the thought of facing off with her father. Evidently Draco too felt impressed by the boy's calm words and in truth he could see that they were dealing with the situation well enough to not need his help. Damn.

"Fine," the father grumbled, feeling decidedly replaced. "But I'm watching you." The message he conveyed was clear as day, 'Mess with my daughter and you'll have me to answer to.' "And you." Draco now wheeled on his daughter, his brow crinkling a little in dismay when he saw how grown up she looked. "If you'd rather avoid unnecessary attention then why not cover up a little?" After reaching out to briskly pull Hermione's shawl onto their daughter's shoulders Draco retreated into the dance floor, seeking out his wife so as he could be consoled about the fact that their little girl was no longer their little girl.

"You shouldn't listen to your dad," Owen told the girl softly, sounding for the first time humbled. "You're the most beautiful girl in here tonight."

XXX

The night ought to have lasted forever or so Leshia and most of her peers felt. She and Owen had danced until the candles were blown out and the remaining youngsters shepherded from the room. The following morning brought with it the last two matches of the tournament; the first a play off between Durmstrang and the Senegalese to decide who would win third place and the second the coveted final everyone had been waiting for.

Leshia and her friends cheered on Emi and his team in their game, and whether their support made a difference or not, the École du soleil de sorcellerie beat Durmstrang in a very one-sided game. Lunch divided the two games and it was a terrifically loud affair, but one Leshia and the other Hogwarts lot had to miss as they were preparing for the 'big game'. James Flint had never before devised so many tactics nor plays and frantically the team tried to keep up with him.

By the time one thirty rolled by and the sounds of the expectant crowd permeated the walls of the changing room letting the players know it was time Leshia was bored silly; she had one mission and one mission only: to beat Petra Walsh and not show any mercy. Her confidence once shattered had since grown anew. She knew she was the better of the two players and as such had not a doubt that she would enjoy watching the American girl suffer.

Walking onto the pitch seemed not as exciting as when they had played in the semi-finals. Perhaps it was because of a sixth sense that Leshia already knew how this day would end, or perhaps because after the first such match the equal intensity of this one seemed somehow diminished. Either way, as Leshia mounted her broom and soared into the sky she felt no nerves, only the excitement at thrashing Petra.

The moment the quaffle was released Hogwarts took possession and on their first play James Flint scored a fantastic goal, which came accompanied by,

"What a stunning first minute goal by Hogwarts captain James Flint! Start as you mean to carry on eh?" The commentator couldn't have been more accurate and within five minutes the score stood at a ridiculous 50 to 0 in favour of the home team. Salem's luck at having come thus far was now completely and utterly spent in the face of the Hogwarts side at the height of their strength. Up above Leshia's mind was focused once more on just one thing: the snitch. She did not even notice Petra flying up to meet her.

"I've been preparing my bow," the wretched girl called out over the winds.

"Good for you," Leshia called back.

"Don't you wanna know what for?"

"Not really no."

"It's for when we win the cup." Down below the sound of Hogwarts scoring once more filled the air making Leshia smile.

"Sure Petra, when you lot win the cup." The condescending tone Leshia adopted flew in the face of the beautiful Salem seeker, who wondered what on earth had happened to the weak girl she had shared a dorm with for just two days. Another goal sounded in favour of Hogwarts. This game was turning into a farce. "You know there's two types of bully," Leshia was now saying.

"What?"

"Those who bully because they can and those who bully because they have to?"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Petra snapped furiously. Leshia smiled serenely, enjoying taking this harpie down a peg or two.

"Those who do so because they can are the true bullies, but those who bully because if they don't they'll either disappear into the background or fall prey to bullies themselves, well they're really just victims. Pathetic victims."

"Shut the hell up!"

"Make me." With this Leshia threw herself down into a dive with Petra furiously following in her wake. For the enjoyment of the bored fans Leshia put on such a show, which also served to reveal the sheer superiority of Leshia's flying skills compared with those of Petra. Perhaps it was cruel of Leshia to embarrass the girl in front of the mocking crowds as Petra spiralled and lost control in her anger, but Leshia had always been a little cruel. Whereas Petra was a type two bully through and through, far too insecure to form normal attachments to people instead covering up for her own weakness by being horrible to all those around her, Leshia was definitely the first type of bully. She was bringing Petra down now because she could, pure and simple.

Around them the game had deteriorated to such an extent that Salem had all but given up leaving Hogwarts leading with a huge lead to absolutely no points on the Salemers part. The crowds were getting restless; even the play off had been more enjoyable to watch than the hammering Hogwarts was delivering Salem. Leshia too was growing bored and decided Petra had been teased long enough. Coming to a halt above the field of play Leshia waited for the infuriated Petra to catch up to her.

"It's all over," Leshia called to the girl. "We're so far ahead regardless of what happens between you or I, you've lost. There will be no ISQT cup for you. All that pathetic practising was pointless." A glimpse of gold fluttered down below and without hesitation Leshia threw herself after the snitch with Petra helpless but to follow, though she didn't stand a chance. Within moments it was all over, Hogwarts were the ISQT champions.

What an anticlimax it had been though. Returning to the great hall for the prize giving ceremony everyone discussed how yesterday's game versus the Senegalese had felt like the true final and indeed they weren't wrong. For Leshia though the match they had just breezed through had been an important step in reclaiming her dignity from the Salem seeker; she had been vindicated.

XXX

Saying goodbye to their new friends was one of the most heart wrenching things the girls had ever had to do and despite exchanging addresses and in some cases muggle telephone numbers it just didn't seem adequate. Would they ever see each other again? Boarding the Hogwarts Express Rachel seemed inconsolable. She had not spoken of what went on between she and Harvey, but towards the end of the ball they had disappeared for a good hour or so. Katie insisted they had been off in some deserted classroom somewhere snogging, to which Rachel insisted they had just been talking. It was a dubious debate and on that Leshia steered well clear of.

The girls found an empty cabin near the end of the train and loaded their trunks onto the racks above the benches. Leshia had not been able to find Philly her cat, who in the space of the year had become so wild he spent most of his time off exploring – indeed Leshia was entirely sure he'd deserted her – and so she was travelling home without him. It irked her not to know where the blighter had gone. Katie seemed to want to get something off her chest, which instantly made Leshia brace herself for the worst. The night before when she had returned from the ball the others had been sleeping; they had returned an hour or so before Leshia and her mock boyfriend. Upon Rachel's instructions not to bother Leshia before the final Katie had been forced to keep silent about the fact that their small blonde friend had spent the _whole_ night dancing with the illustrious keeper, but now Rachel couldn't hold her back any more. Indeed, in her woebegone state Rachel couldn't do much anymore except stare out of the window dolefully dreaming of her Australian friend.

"So," the raven-haired girl spoke at last, a look of such glee on her face Leshia was entirely sure the corners of her mouth were reaching her eyes. "You and Owen."

"There is no me and Owen," Leshia explained calmly. "We were pretending to stop Dave the maniac stalking me."

"Pretending?" Katie repeated incredulously. "Leshia I know you, you couldn't have acted that look on your face. You love him!"

"Katie," Leshia groaned. "I do not love Owen Gabriel. He's a really good friend who helped me out last night that's it." Katie's eyes positively beamed with the knowledge that she knew better, but kept her tongue. She wouldn't push Leshia; she'd already received the backlash from Rachel last night at pushing her too hard over Harvey.

"What about you and Rodeo?" Rachel now spoke up, turning finally to her friends with a glare directed at Katie.

"What do you mean?" the girl's cousin replied shrilly. Leshia wrinkled her brow and looked from one girl to the next.

"Can we not talk about boys? That's all we ever seem to talk about," Leshia finally interrupted firmly. "Can't we talk about how I rubbed Petra's face in it instead?" With a chorus of laughter the cousins consented and for almost the entire journey home they chattered gleefully about the fall from grace of the Salem harpies.

King's Cross was positively heaving with eager parents awaiting the return of their sons and daughters. Amidst the pandemonium Harry, Ginny and Ron waited impatiently for the return of their children. Lavender had opted out of making the journey to the station, though her plans did suggest she was going to be home the entirety of the children's Christmas Holiday. She and Ron had something important to tell them.

Into the crowded station full of eager relatives the Hogwarts Express finally pulled bringing with it the cargo of young witches and wizards. Katie, Rachel and Leshia were some of the last to climb from the train, as in the corridors they had come across Rodeo and Parys and spent at least ten minutes wishing them goodbye and a happy holiday season. By the time they emerged onto the emptying platform they laid eyes on their gathered parents – Hermione and Draco had by now joined them – and Michael, Hermia and Emelia, the younger siblings of Rachel and Katie.

"Oh do take your time," Draco called across the platform to them. Despite their antics at Halloween the girls were welcomed with open-arms and large smiles and soon they were all making the short walk back to the Malfoys' town house for dinner before everyone went their own separate ways. Tally, the head houself of the Malfoy family, had returned a few days early to break the house in after the three months it had lain empty gathering dust and as such it was deliciously warm and lived in by the time the three families reached it. Hermia decided to floo home straight away to see her mother, but the other children all remained, running straight for the 'muggle room', which housed the house's only television.

"Right then, who would like a drink?" Hermione asked her friends happily and after a round of yes pleases the glowing young woman went about fetching them, but the task was soon assumed by Draco who insisted his wife sit down after the long journey down from Hogwarts. This show of concern caused Ginny to look to her best friend with raised eyebrows; had Hermione told her husband of her 'condition'? Hermione grinned conspiratorially and despite herself Ginny squeaked and clasped her hands together in front of her face.

"What's wrong with you?" Harry laughed fondly at his wife, who remained absolutely silent lest she reveal the surprise. Once everyone had a drink in front of them and, after shutting the door keeping out any small interlopers, Draco had taken up the seat beside his wife it was time to let their friends in on the big news,

"We're having another baby," the young woman gushed. For a moment the room filled with loud congratulations, which Draco soon hushed when he explained they hadn't told Leshia yet.

"When are you going to tell her?" Harry asked with a slight wince; he for one would not want to be in or even near the vicinity when Leshia Malfoy found out she was no longer going to be Draco and Hermione's only child. The expecting parents looked to one another in concern.

"We don't know yet, we haven't really discussed it," Draco finally replied. "I only found out yesterday morning," he added with a grin aimed at his wife.

"She's got a lot on her plate at the moment," Hermione sighed, ignoring her husband's pointed expression. "What with _boys _and all that. Why is it that every move our girls make is dictated by some boy or others? I don't remember being so boy obsessed when I was their age."

"That's because you weren't normal," Ron stated amusingly.

"After hanging out with these two all the time you would have been forgiven for going off men altogether," Draco added with a grin aimed at Harry and Ron.

"Hey!" both friends complained through their laughter.

"Hermione fancied me first I'll have you know," Ron piped up with a large smile. Like clockwork the old argument of old emerged with Draco loudly complaining,

"In your dreams Weasley."

XXX

Christmas time descended on the Malfoy household with no mercy. Ever since Hermione had been reunited with her family she had made sure Christmas was a time to remember. Beautiful decorations hung from every available space and over fifty Father Christmas dolls and figurines jostled for space in nooks, crannies and every available surface space. Leshia loved the over the top decorations, but Draco felt perhaps his wife was going too far – especially when he opened his sock drawer one morning to find a small Elf figurine amidst the sea of black cotton.

"Are you mad?" the young man laughed as soon as he found the doll clutching onto one of his better pairs. Hermione, sat by her vanity table taming her wild mane of hair, beamed at her husband.

"A little, yes."

"'Mione…"

"Baby it's Christmas," Hermione countered before she found herself on the receiving ends of one of Draco's lectures about Christmas propriety. "I only get this one chance to go completely overboard."

"Yeah, but this year is worse than ever," Draco tried to reason with his wife. Hermione's hands flew to her growing bump while her face shone with pride and love.

"It's because of this," she tried to explain. "The nesting instinct is kicking in." Draco sighed heavily and rubbed the back on his head with a pair of socks.

"All right," he finally exclaimed, shutting the drawer with the elf still inside seemingly guarding his socks. "But you can't use that against me every time you know," he chuckled.

"It's my right as a pregnant woman," Hermione giggled in return causing Draco to roll his eyes to the ceiling in fondness. "Oh you didn't know? We've got all sorts of special allowances and stuff we can get away with."

"Such as?"

"Well firstly, we get to do what we want when we want because the hormones are making us do it," the young woman began, ticking an imaginary list off on her fingers. Draco laughed heartily before he dove at his wife locking her in a firm embrace about her shoulders. Hermione yelped playfully. "Stop! You have to be careful!"

"What? I can't help it; _my_ hormones are making me do this," Draco countered amusingly, kissing his wife while she tried to struggle away.

"Mum? Dad?" The two grown adults darted apart guiltily as though they were mere teenagers caught in the act. Their daughter's cautious call had come from just outside their door, which lay ajar.

"Yes darling?" Hermione called back shrilly.

"You do know this door's open don't you?" the teenager asked with a slight tone of reprove; she understood her parents were very much in love and that of course they had to 'do stuff', but couldn't they have the common decency to shut the door first?

"Come in you idiot," Draco chuckled, finally letting his wife go to pull on the socks still clutched in his hand.

"Is it safe?"

"Get in here," Draco laughed. Warily Leshia poked her head round the door, a pre-emptive look of disgust on her face should anything untoward be going on in the room. Thankfully both her parents were presentable and the girl could relax.

"I thought we were going into town today? I've hardly bought any presents yet and it's Christmas Eve tomorrow!"

"We're coming, just wait a minute or two," Hermione admonished the girl fondly. The request seemed to pain the girl who scrunched up her face and checked her watch.

"What's so urgent?" Draco asked tiredly, though a smile did pull at the corners of his mouth.

"We arranged to meet Rodes and Parys like ten minutes ago, we might not get another chance to see them this holiday. _Even_ Katie's been allowed to come today," the girl explained and due to the urgency of her situation she let the look of fond amusement pass between the parents without calling them on it. "Can I go on ahead and meet you in town?"

"Will you get lost?" Draco asked with feigned-seriousness eliciting a tired look from his daughter.

"Dad," she said simply, as though this were answer enough.

"Go on darling, we'll catch up with you later. Do you need any money?" Hermione interrupted the father-daughter dynamic before the mirth of the situation suddenly turned sour by one wrong word from either party.

"No I'm okay, I've been saving up for ages," Leshia replied happily. "Thanks mum." With this the girl was gone and after several scampered footsteps the two parents heard the front door slamming.

"You shouldn't wind her up, we're trying to keep her happy remember?" Hermione told her husband with a worried frown. "We have to tell her about…you know, before we get back to Hogwarts. I just don't know…"

"We won't let it ruin Christmas," Draco assured his wife soothingly and with ease he crossed the room towards her. "New Years Eve, we should tell her at the party, she'll have plenty of friends around her to diffuse the situation." Hermione wrinkled her brow in worry.

"You think it's better with more people around?" Draco nodded slowly while he thought about it. If he knew his daughter, and he had a pretty good feeling he knew her very well, then he was sure having her friends about her would ease her suffering greatly and with the distraction of the party to keep the attention off herself she would find dealing with his much easier.

"I'm sure of it," her husband replied, before he assumed a dashing smile. "Now, where were we?"

XXX

Leshia reached Diagon Alley in time to hunt down her friends and enjoy a morning's productive shopping with them. At around noon the youngsters decided to take a break in the Leaky Cauldron for some warm pumpkin juice, where they descended on a corner booth enthusiastically showing one another their purchases. Their laughter was so raucous the bar's attention was almost entirely directed at them; some with fond smiles at the teenager so evidently enjoying their holiday, but most with reprove.

"You do know there are other people in this bar don't you?" Had Leshia's friends not recognised the voice then her actions might have seemed rather surprising, but as each and every one of them recognised the deep tone of the once Captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team they didn't even bat an eyelid as Leshia leapt to her feet and flung her arms around the tall man's chest.

"Ryan!" the girl cried out in complete and utter jubilation.

"Hey shorty," her once captain and older-brother-type chuckled fondly and with all his might he hugged the girl back. "Hang on, I don't mean to alarm you," he suddenly said and for a moment Leshia pulled back worriedly. "But you've grown. I can't believe you've actually grown."

"Hey," the girl laughed happily, pushing her friend back fondly. "Shove off. It was always bound to happen one day. It's not much anyway." Ryan beamed at her.

"Just checking. Hello all," he offered to the others, who greeted him enthusiastically. "So, I hear congratulations are in order."

"What for?" Ryan rolled his eyes with a grin and rapped his knuckle very gently on the girl's forehead.

"International Schools Quidditch Tournament? Do you remember it at all, or have you taken one too many bludgers to the head?"

"Oh right, yeah that." The once Gryffindor captain and heart throb laughed out loud and nodded.

"Fair enough, I understand. You were never one to blow your own trumpet. Still, congratulations." Leshia shrugged meekly.

"Thanks."

"Only wish they could have done something so cool back in my day," the tall young man sighed wistfully. Leshia giggled despite herself.

"Ryan you left less than half a year ago."

"Hey, it seems like an age ago. I really miss the old place. Is old McGonagall still on the warpath?"

"Like you wouldn't imagine." And so for at least an hour the youngsters filled in the Hogwarts veteran on everything he had missed and even went as far as to explain the mysterious goings on to the young man. He seemed concerned about the fact that Leshia had been hurt twice and made Rodeo and Parys promise on pain of death to keep the young girl safe; Leshia was entirely sure she had never blushed so much.

Just as the young man was excusing himself to leave (he had left his girlfriend at home entertaining their relatives while he just popped out to pick up some new potatoes and a vial of newts' eyes) two figures appeared behind him in search of Leshia.

"Professor Malfoy, Professor Granger," Ryan quickly offered them with a nod of his head.

"Hello Ryan," Hermione beamed at the young man while Draco offered him a nod of his head and a small respectful smile. "How have you been?"

"Mum he's in a hurry," Leshia quickly spoke up, and whereas Draco batted the girl across the back of her head gently for being rude Hermione beamed at the tall man.

"Of course, have a lovely Christmas."

"You too Professor, see you around Shorty. Oh yeah and Malfoy you tell Owen Gabriel that I can't believe he joined the moment I left…" The rest of Ryan's call was lost over the crowds jostling for space in the Leaky Cauldron. Leshia remained in a good mood the rest of the day; a mood even shopping with her mother at the local muggle supermarket for three hours couldn't shake her from.

XXX

Christmas Eve went down a blast with everyone descending on the Burrow for a large party, which was soon relived the following day on Christmas day when the Weasley clan gathered for Christmas day and invited the Malfoys. Leshia and her friends thoroughly enjoyed the festivities and ate more than they could have imagined. In fact, Leshia was entirely sure she was going to have to be rolled home when the time came.

After Christmas lunch the girls were rather surprised to be called down by their parents who wanted to 'talk to them about something'; whenever this phrase was uttered it could never be good news the girls had long since worked out. With Katie still being punished for the events at Halloween the poor girl was very reluctant to come downstairs with her friends; she couldn't fit in any more punishment surely?

"We're not going to bite," Harry laughed the moment the three wary girls peered round the door into the kitchen, which was where they had been summoned.

"We just wanted to talk to you about something," Hermione added. This did not reassured the girls one bit, but they did obey and filed inside the large room still in the process of cleaning itself after lunch. Huddled together, they squeezed onto two chairs with large eyes and vulnerable expressions, seeming like very young children rather than fourteen-year-olds.

"We're throwing a big party on New Years Eve," Draco finally spoke after he'd enjoyed enough amusement at the girls' expense. Immediately Leshia relaxed and a curious expression adorned her pretty face. Katie and Rachel however grew tenser expecting to be told after this announcement that they would not be allowed to attend due to their horrendous overall behaviour.

"And we were wondering whether there was anyone you wanted us to invite?" Hermione now spoke up. Finally Katie and Rachel joined Leshia in her elation and for a moment they spouted out names of all their friends and fans from school.

"Could you possibly limit it to one each? We're going to ask some the others to invite friends as well," Hermione asked the girls fondly.

"Rodeo," Katie immediately responded followed promptly by Rachel exclaiming,

"Parys." Everyone now turned to Leshia who shrunk away from their expectant faces.

"I don't know, Owen Gabriel?" she suggested. Across the table Draco's left eyebrow twitched, but any other reaction to the name of the boy who had so entertained his young daughter at the ball just over a week ago he did not show.

"Wonderful," Hermione beamed at the girls.

"Is that it?" Rachel asked warily, eliciting laughter from the gathered parents.

"Well actually, could you tell your cousins to think of a person they would like to invite," Ron told Rachel and Katie.

"What all of them?" the red-haired girl exclaimed in surprise.

"No, just the ones at Hogwarts if you don't mind," Hermione quickly corrected. "We don't have the Potters' facilities." Here the young woman shot Ginny and Harry a fond smile, which they laughed off. Thankful that they were avoiding trouble the girls hotfooted it out of the kitchen and went to spread the message about the New Years party. Leshia had never endured so much teasing about Owen Gabriel before in her life and it was a small miracle that her patience did not completely snap in two. Several times that evening she found herself reaching for her wand to curse her two friends, especially when they started miming kissing actions and singing the childish nursery rhyme "Leshia and Owen sitting in a tree", but thankfully the girl restrained herself and when she went home that night her two best friends were still in one piece.

The week dividing Christmas from New Years thankfully passed without any strife or mischief (at least, none detected by Hermione or Draco – Leshia quite happily took to her favoured hobby of driving Tally the houself completely bonkers, but she kept it so well hidden even Draco was surprised by Tally's suddenly erratic moods) and soon New Years Eve had fallen upon them. Hermione's instincts – nesting or otherwise – had gone completely bananas and she spent the entire day preparing the house in some sort of frenzy. Leshia and Draco steered well clear of her and instead busied themselves with running errands; any excuse to get as far from the house as possible.

Rodeo, Parys and Owen had all gratefully accepted their invitations and finally as eight-o clock rolled by Leshia was given leave to go and fetch them from the Leaky Cauldron with Katie and Rachel in tow, who had arrived half an hour early with their parents to help set up that which Hermione in her frenzy had overlooked. Wrapped up warmly against the falling snow the girls chattered to one another about the outfits that lay beneath the layers. Katie and Rachel had nothing but praise for Leshia's ensemble, which in all honesty she had spent the entire week planning. Never before had she put so much thought or effort into deciding what to wear to an event, but in the end Leshia was very happy that she had pondered it so carefully; her skirt-jumper-boots combination was spot on and the moment she had rushed down the stairs to greet her friends Katie had felt very envious of the beautiful girl.

The Leaky Cauldron was positively bursting with festive patrons and it took the girls several minutes to find their male friends despite having arranged a predestined meeting spot. Finally, and not a moment too soon to Parys who had had to endure the frostiness between Leshia's suitors, the six youngsters clapped eyes on one another and started the short journey back to the Malfoy homestead.

Leshia led the way with Owen by her side and quite predictably three lines of couples formed with Rachel and Parys taking up the rear grinning to one another tiredly about their friends: this evening though full of potential was most likely going to end in someone or other's tears.

"Did you have a nice Christmas?" Leshia asked the tall boy beside her once she'd started them all off on the journey home.

"Not really no," Owen chuckled. "My little sisters have been waging war on each other all term apparently and it all came to a head at Christmas. I could have throttled them both I tell you. How about yours?"

"Yeah it was okay, my parents are being weird, but then again, that's nothing new," Leshia replied with a shrug, before suddenly she adopted a wide-eyed gleeful expression. "Hey I ran into Ryan Lofting at the Leaky Cauldron right before Christmas and he told me to tell you he couldn't believe you finally joined the moment he left. " Quite surprisingly Owen started laughing heartily. "What was all that about then?"

"Your ex Captain," Owen began amusedly. "Nearly got down on his knees and begged me to join the team last year, and the two years before that he made such a play for my allegiance I could have sworn he was trying to ask me out not get me to join his team." Leshia laughed raucously, picturing her once captain's passionate desire for the best possible Gryffindor team and the lengths he would go to to attain it. "He just couldn't accept that I was contract-bound not to play for the team. I guess now he thinks I really hated him. Shame, I've always liked Lofting, he's an alright guy." Leshia grinned at Owen.

"I bet he doesn't hate you," she tried, before her stifled laughter broke out in a very undignified snort. "Okay, so maybe he does, but I'll set things straight the next time I see him."

For the remainder of the brief walk to Leshia's front door the pair entertained one another with shared memories from the last term, until finally Leshia steered her friends up the stairs to the grand black front door, which lay open for arriving guests. Inside the house had filled with so many people Leshia was sure they'd come to the wrong door.

"This is it," the short girl announced to the boys before she led them through the crowds to the utility room behind the kitchen, which was doubling as a coatroom. "You lot can dump your stuff in here." While the stripped themselves of their layers Leshia – still coat clad – stared out at the guests trying to recognise faces amidst the sea of people.

"How did all these people _get _here in less than half an hour?" she muttered to herself.

"By magic?" Rodeo offered cheesily, earning himself a Cheshire-cat grin from the blonde girl by the door.

"Only from a muggleborn," the girl sighed mockingly before she beamed at the handsome boy to show him she had been joking. "Come on, I'll show you my room." With the much less bulky youngsters in tow they made far better time traversing back through the crowds to the stairs, but only once they had ascended them could they freely move without having to worry about knocking someone over in the process.

"This is it," Leshia exclaimed proudly, throwing the door open onto her newly cleaned (though still not very tidy) abode. Rodeo and Parys started sniggering. Leshia sighed and rolled her eyes amusedly. "Just say it."

"Nothing," Rodeo managed with a straight face.

"It's just this is exactly how we pictured your room," Parys added.

"What do you mean?" Leshia demanded.

"Chaos," both boys burst out with laughter, dragging Katie and Rachel into their mirth. Even Owen managed a smile; what they had said was very true after all. For a moment Leshia looked from one to the next before finally she ushered them out.

"Fine, wait downstairs for me," she laughed and with this she shut the door behind herself. Instead of going down into the sea of people the youngsters hung about the hall studying the multitude of interesting artefacts Draco and Hermione had collected over the years and also the plethora of pictures Hermione had stuck up about the place chronicling Leshia and Draco's life while she had been away; she liked to pretend she hadn't missed them by hanging up every picture she could find from those years, and often it worked.

After a mere few minutes the door to Leshia's room creaked open again and there she stood in all her 'perfect outfit' glory. The boys actually went silent for once, which did not escape Katie's notice, only furthering her envy deeply. "Ready to see what's going on downstairs?" Leshia posed to her friends, before she darted down the stairs. They took a while to mobilise themselves, but finally they followed. On their way down to the crowded hallway Rodeo and Owen exchanged the most competitive glare that had ever passed between them.

After ten minutes of swimming aimlessly through the sea of strangers Leshia and her friends finally encountered one of the hosts. Hermione was in her element and at this moment she was surrounded by a hoard of old school friends she hadn't seen in years. The girls were done for before they'd even opened their mouths.

"Seamus, Dean," Hermione addressed her old friends while she dragged the girls into her arms; no mean feat for quite a small pregnant woman. "Here are the girls I've been telling you about." The two men beside Hermione looked down with fond expressions, instantly seeing the likeness of the girls to their old school chums the moment they looked upon them.

"No need for introductions," Seamus chuckled. For the next ten minutes the girls were helpless to escape and they found themselves being told anecdote upon anecdote of their parents' days at school until finally they managed to excuse themselves and darted into the kitchen to find something to eat.

"Okay, no going near any of our parents tonight," Leshia told the others determinedly. "Unless you want to get bored to death all night." With plates of buffet-style food and cups of delicious 'strictly for the children' punch in their hands Leshia led her friends to the muggle room where most of the other younger guests had holed up for the night. With the muggle television blaring out some muggle music channel the atmosphere was much more relaxed and 'hip' allowing Leshia and her friends to finally relax.

"You've got a pretty sweet house here Malfoy," Owen remarked appreciatively once he'd found a spare seat on one of the beanbag-like chairs in the corner. Leshia dropped down on the ground beside him, almost forgetting her other friends were with them.

"But you live in London too right? What's your house like?" Leshia inquired naively – not one for travelling about her native city, she had not seen the vast variety of buildings the capital had to offer. Owen stared blankly at the girl for a moment while these very thoughts ran through his mind until finally he burst out laughing.

"Malfoy you're too much," he managed through his laughter. Across the room Rodeo bristled tetchily over his drink. "I live in Hampstead, so it's mostly detached or semi-detached houses right? We've got this big old early nineties monstrosity my dad says is an architectural dream house. Me just moved about a year a go, I loved our old place." Leshia was blushing, ashamed of her inexperience.

"We've lived here as long as I can remember, my mum's parents left it to her when they died. They also had a house in the country, but it hurt my mum too much to keep it, so she sold it." With a furrowed brow Leshia wondered what was making her share these things. She never really spoke of her parents' past with her closest friends, let alone with some boy she had really only known a few months.

"Sorry to hear about your grandparents," Owen offered. Leshia shrugged meekly.

"Me too, I never met them. They died before I was born. Voldemort killed them in the…" she trailed off, perhaps now she had said too much? Owen, far from uncomfortable nodded seeming incredibly humbled. Unlike most wizards and witches, none of his relatives or family's closest friends had perished in either of the great wars with Voldemort. His family had stayed well clear of the upheaval and the battling, whereas the lineage of this girl before him had been involved in all aspects of the war, good, bad, atrocious and heroic.

"Your grandfather," the tall boy began tentatively. He wasn't sure how responsive Leshia would be to talking about the other side of her family, but he was dying to know. Ever since Leshia had come to Hogwarts with her dichotic father and her history stooped in dark magic Owen had wondered about that side of her past. The Malfoy name after all, carried with it such connotations of evil and despair that one couldn't help but find any bearer of such a name truly fascinating. "You know, on your dad's side. Do you know him?" Leshia silently watched the tall boy, her large eyes calculating what she ought to say next and whether she should stop this conversation before she had the chance to divulge too much.

"No," she finally replied. "No I don't know him. I thought he was dead. That is, until last year. He resurfaced." This Owen already knew. "He was trying to snatch me." This he did not.

"What? You're serious?"

"Unfortunately, yes I am," Leshia sighed. Sensing an incredibly sensitive topic Owen changed tack once more.

"What about your dad's mother?"

"What's with all the questions?" Leshia countered, a hint of defensiveness to her tone, but still a smile on her face. Owen went a little pink in the cheek.

"Uh sorry, I didn't mean, I mean, it's not like," he stammered, seeming for the first time unsure of himself and entirely without the answers. Leshia found it so hilarious she burst out laughing and changed the topic of conversation. Once more, across the room on the most comfortable of the settees Rodeo squeezed his cup to tightly the sides split pouring the contents onto his lap. Katie, sat by his side following his gaze, felt something deep within her screaming and burning to get out.

'Take your chance Katie. Just do it for God's sake!'

"Come on," the girl said aloud brightly. "Let's get you another drink." Helpless but to follow the pretty girl back into the kitchen, especially when she was batting her eyelashes at him, Rodeo and Katie left. On their return the raven-haired girl had been pretty effective in diverting the bohemian boy's attention entirely back onto herself.

"Katie!" At the kitchen door the pair of youngsters turned around to find Hermione bearing down on them. Wary to be dragged to another reunion they started backing away, but Hermione now more-determined than ever with the weight of what was to come, would not be so easily shaken off. "Have you seen Leshia?" she called persistently, catching up to the teenagers through some Olympic medal-worthy acrobatics.

"I think she's looking for Rachel in there," Katie lied convincingly, pointing back into the kitchen they'd all just emerged from.

"You're sure? I didn't see her," Hermione countered worriedly forcing such guilt to creep over Katie that she nearly cracked.

"Maybe she went upstairs Professor Granger?" Rodeo suggested.

"Well if you see her, tell her I have to see her urgently," Hermione relayed firmly, before she set off again in search of the wayward girl. She and Draco had decided that the time to tell their daughter their news was now long overdue and both were urgent to find her. With Rodeo's fresh drink he and Katie darted back through the crowds to the muggle room where at first it appeared that Leshia and her tall friend had disappeared, but upon closer inspection and Rachel's urgent head nodding Katie found the blonde girl once more, tucked into a corner with the tall keeper seemingly involved in an intimate conversation. Katie and Rodeo could not have known that moments earlier Draco had been stalking the room causing Leshia to dart for cover dragging her friend with her mid-conversation.

Indeed, from their position it appeared to be very much the first move they had both been waiting for: one with dread the other with anticipation. Rodeo could not believe his eyes and for the second time that night his drink burst in his hand. Katie thought fast, she had to act now; because if she didn't then she was pretty certain Rodeo would go marching across the room to fight for the small blonde girl.

"Look," Katie said shrilly, taking hold of Rodeo's sodden hand and staring fixedly at the top of the doorframe where in her decoration madness Hermione had affixed a beautiful sprig of mistletoe – indeed, every doorframe in the house came complete with a sprig or five and observant Katie had been the first to notice their every location for an eventuality such as this one. Rodeo did look following Katie's lead and the moment he saw the off-green leaves a smile darted onto his face despite his horror at finding Leshia tucked into a corner with Owen Gabriel.

"Um, well…" the boy stuttered, looking back to the beautiful girl before him while rubbing the back of his neck feverishly. Her heart racing a million miles per second Katie assumed the confidence of someone far more outgoing than she…someone like Leshia in fact.

"You know, it's pretty much against the law to pass by one of these things without kissing someone," the girl said in as husky a voice as she could manage. Rodeo grinned despite his nerves.

"Is it? Well we can't have that can we?"

"My thoughts exactly."

Leshia looked up the same time as Rachel did across the room and both felt their skin suddenly crawl at the sight of their two friends kissing beneath the mistletoe, though both for very different reasons. Rachel could have screamed: what was Katie doing? Seeing his friend suddenly seize up in some sort of seizure Owen too followed her gaze to the two lovebirds in the doorway and while he took the time to react Leshia darted from his side suddenly wanting very much to find the nearest toilet and regurgitate what little dinner she had managed to consume.

"Malfoy!" Owen called after her and without the kissing pair even noticing the two youngsters flew past them in the doorway. Everywhere Leshia darted jovial and slightly intoxicated faces met her; several times people called her out, trying to engage the young Malfoy in conversation, but not once did Leshia stop. She had to reach the downstairs cloakroom, she had to shut out the images that were burning into her brain every second that passed. Rodeo and Katie had finally done what they had been threatening to do for over a year; they had taken the step of declaring their feelings for one another openly. There wasn't a doubt in Leshia's mind that they were now going out. Even though she had tried to prepare herself for this moment Leshia never realised it could hurt this much.

"Malfoy wait!" Owen called after Leshia fervently; in the crowds she was getting away from him and as she knew her home infinitely better than he, the moment she disappeared from sight she would be gone. "Leshia would you stop!"

Draco snapped his eyes in the direction of the boy's call. Barely a second later and Leshia ran straight past him, though she didn't get terribly far as with the reflexes of a cat Draco had reached out and stayed her shoulder. Turning round with an expression so horrified Draco immediately assumed the worst and turned on the approaching boy with a look of such fury Owen stopped still in his tracks.

"You…" he began with such a growl the happy partygoers in the vicinity turned around with almost fearful expressions.

"Dad," Leshia interrupted. A protective arm pulled Leshia to her father's side while he closed in on the young man he feared had wounded his child.

"It's not me she's upset with," Owen quickly defended himself, assuming once more a fearlessness Draco had to respect.

"I'm just feeling sick," Leshia spoke up before Owen could divulge too much to her father.

"What?" Draco asked his daughter with a look of suspicion and disbelief.

"Dad I am going to be sick," the girl warned and quickly without hesitation Draco led the girl the short distance to the cloakroom where he pulled a small bottle from the cabinet.

"Drink this," he ordered and while Owen waited outside worriedly Leshia complied. The potion must have been very powerful or effective because moments after ingesting it the desperate feeling had gone leaving Leshia seemingly back to normal; only the emotional disgust and sickness now remained. "What happened?" Draco demanded before the girl had even got her breath back.

"I suddenly felt really sick, Owen was worried about me," Leshia lied flawlessly.

"_He_ said you were upset," Draco countered suspiciously.

"He thought I was. I suddenly ran off, what would you think?" Leshia was so convincing even Owen saw truth in her words. That Malfoy girl was so entirely multifaceted he had no idea what to make of her, all he knew is that he wanted to know more. Draco once more glanced to the boy in the corridor.

"So you're not upset?" he finally asked his daughter, concern lacing his slate eyes, hidden well from the boy out in the corridor.

"No," the girl countered forcing a convincing smile on to her face. "Why, what's up?" The unconvinced father looked deeply into his daughter's eyes, sure that this was not the moment to be bringing up the big news, but also so entirely sure they couldn't wait a moment longer, before finally he nodded firmly.

"Your mother and I need to talk to you about something." Concerned about what this 'something' could be, Leshia allowed herself to be guided towards her father's study. Owen tried to follow.

"You, stay here," Draco called back to the young man dangerously. He was helpless to comply, though he did try to speed things along by directing Hermione toward the study when she rushed past in search of her husband or daughter. With a beaming smile at the boy she followed in their wake and now it was all a waiting game. Owen Gabriel slouched down against the wall in the gloomy under-stair hallway, his eyes never leaving the study door, his mind never leaving Alecia Malfoy.

Inside the dark wood study Leshia sat down on the comfortable red leather settee that lined the wall of the grand library cum office. She had never liked this room. It always came hand in hand with punishment and as such now held negative connotations for the young loose wire. Draco, all set on going in search of Hermione opened the door in time to have his wife come flying in expectantly. The look of such gravity that passed between her parents made Leshia very much want to make a run for it. Why did she get the feeling she wasn't going to like what they had to say?

Without a word to one another Hermione and Draco took two chairs from beside the desk and sat down opposite their daughter. Squirming on the spot Leshia pulled her hands into the ends of her sleeves and wrapped her arms about herself; she appeared so little Draco wanted to scoop her up in his arms as he did when she was a small child in need of comforting.

"Darling," Hermione exclaimed breathily, almost shaking with the significance of the situation. They would all no doubt remember this moment for the rest of their lives.

"Mum you're scaring me." The words escaped Leshia's mouth before she had consciously thought to utter them and for a moment she wished she could claw them all back because Hermione's face, already teetering on an expression of great emotion, now crumpled in dismay.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm not trying to."

"Are you going away again?" The heart wrenching emotions Leshia's innocence and vulnerability were evoking in Hermione's over-emotional state caused her trembling to increase.

"No," the mother exclaimed powerfully, shaking her head very firmly. Leshia now looked to Draco.

"Are you?" He too shook his head, trying to retain his neutral expression while inside the sight of his little girl, normally so sure of herself, so utterly flailing in insecurity made him want to take hold of her and run. He didn't want her to hear their news. He didn't want to break her heart; he would rather die before he let that happen.

"No one's going anywhere," Draco spoke calmly when he had enough faith in his voice to speak normally. Why drag it out? "Your mother is pregnant."

Quite suddenly and without warning, without even a reaction from the girl, she was on her feet and out the door.

"Leshia!" both parents shouted after her. Their calls were in vein as by now the girl had darted out of the corridor and into the crowds. Owen watched her pass him and without hesitation he was on his feet following her. She made straight for the door, which still lay open and once outside did not stop running. Hopping expertly over the fence her instinct was only to run; to run away from the news her parents had just dropped on her.

How could they have another baby? She was an only child. She always had been and she always would be. How could she share her parents? How could they have a baby at Hogwarts? Surely they couldn't? Surely they'd move? In one foul swoop she would lose both her parents. They had lied: they _were_ going somewhere. They were leaving her! How could they do it to her?

With so many thoughts and questions jostling for space in her mind Leshia felt entirely sure her head was going to explode. All she could do was run, run away from it all. Run away from them.

"Alecia Malfoy stop!" Not listening to whoever was in pursuit the girl sped up, but her escape had been thwarted, though not by whom she had predicted. Strong arms took hold of hers and suddenly the girl found herself pulled backwards into a strong grip. Whoever had found her was rocking her while she openly wept away her sorrows. Whoever had found her carefully, soothingly, lovingly healed her open wounds and eased her suffering. Whoever had found her cared more for her wellbeing than anything that had ever come before.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End of Part VIII

Sorry it was so long. 57 bloody pages is quite long even for me. I'm not sure when you'll get this. I just moved into my flat in London and they say it'll be three weeks before we get net. There's an Internet café on Goodge Street that I can get to okay, but problem is I went there before to try and update the story with a meagered down version of this chapter (back when it was only 45 pages long) and I couldn't do it. I'm going to try uploading from a DVD I'll burn now, but if that fails then screw it, it'll be three weeks – to cut a long story short, none of this is terrifically important to you because you're going to get this when you get this, I just wanted to share my pain!

I demand reviews :) and thanks to all those who already have reviews. It's what keeps me writing this, seriously. I would have long given up by now had this saga not attracted some fans. Think of the long-suffering 'writer' travelling on the smelly tube to get this to you…I mean I do actually enjoy the underground (not a hardened Londoner just yet), but it's the principle that counts :)


	9. Part Nine

**Generations: Blue Lions**

**Part IX**

It took several moments for the most of Leshia's grief to come out before she suddenly became aware of the subzero temperatures her mere jumper couldn't protect her from. Though the moment the girl started shivering her comforter crept round her side and hugged her to his chest. Leshia knew without looking up who had come to find her.

"Owen I…"

"You don't have to explain," the young man countered.

"No I do, I don't…" the girl managed through her tears.

"Malfoy you don't have to explain anything to me…"

"They're having a baby." The wails that escaped the girl broke Owen's heart and while he felt the mild surprise at her words he hugged her firmly to him, rocking her steadily, willing her to stop feeling this anguish. For several more minutes the girl cried until she finally gave one almighty sniff and looked up at the tall boy.

"Thank you," she whispered, her warm breath tickling his chin, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Don't be absurd," he complained gruffly, wrapping his arms more firmly about her neck and shoulders. He had to look away, he couldn't trust himself not to.

"Owen, look at me please." As though her words had some magic hold on his senses and his actions Owen looked down once more, falling trap to those large grey soulful eyes. Leaning in he wanted nothing more than to make contact with her, to make everything better.

Running footsteps broke Leshia's hold over the boy, who looked up to see a man on a mission bearing down on them. Though his common sense told him to let go of the daughter of that murderous looking man, Owen instead tightened his grip on his friend's shoulders. He would protect her from the world if need be.

"Leshia!" Draco yelled out, the despair his dangerous expression kept well hidden only revealing itself in his voice. The father skidded to a halt a few yards from his child and her companion and for a moment he steadied his shoulders, making himself appear as large as possible so as to intimidate the young man into letting Leshia go. What was he doing here?

"Go away!" the girl cried and she turned her head, burying her face into Owen's thick jumper.

"Baby please, come back inside," Draco pleaded. "Can't we talk about this?"

"Why?" Leshia demanded furiously, her distress now making way for anger. The girl wheeled round and pulled away from Owen a little so as she could face her father properly. "What's there to talk about?"

"We can explain…"

"Oh save it," the girl interrupted, her grey eyes conveying such hatred and pain Draco wanted nothing more than to shrivel up and hide from them. Why had he passed onto her such traits and such powers? "There's nothing to explain and there's nothing to talk about. Just leave me alone!" Furiously the girl turned on heal and started stalking off.

"I'm losing her," Draco whispered barely audibly. Owen alone heard his panicked sentiments and stared in complete surprise and shock as Professor Malfoy, the once Death Eater, the terrifying teacher who had fought Voldemort and lived to tell the tale was brought to his knees by a fourteen-year-old girl.

"Leshia I'm begging you, please come back inside." Something in his tone made the girl stop and slowly she turned around. The sight of her father literally on his knees begging her not to hate him brought a wave of common sense and sensibility crashing down on her. Without hesitation she ran back to his side and took hold of his arm, trying to drag him to his feet.

"Don't be stupid, get up!" the girl complained sounding scared above all; what could bring the venerable Draco Malfoy to his knees? She feared seeing such humility and weakness in her father who, for better or worse, seemed the most impenetrable fearless person to ever walk the earth.

"You'll come back inside?"

"Yes I will, just get up!" The fraught feverish urgency in her voice alerted Draco to the fear and pain his moment of weakness was causing the girl and quickly he rose to his feet, dragging Leshia to his side with such strength he hurt her shoulders. As though he hadn't witnessed the whole thing Owen stood by and watched as father and daughter walked back down the pavement to the house. Had he just imagined the whole thing?

Once inside Leshia followed her father to the study where Hermione was still weeping without restraint. Even Leshia's return couldn't stave the woman's tears and sobs and it took her several minutes to regain control over her hyperactive emotions.

"Don't you _ever_ run from me again," Hermione cried forcefully, pulling Leshia to her side before the girl had been given a chance to speak. "We don't run from our problems in this family. You hear me?" Leshia nodded worriedly, never before had she heard her mother so mad and distraught all in the same voice.

"It was a surprise," the girl finally explained. "I mean, you couldn't have warned me just a little? Maybe dropped some hints or something?" Glimpses of the normal humorous Leshia peered through her façade of anger and upset and as such it gave her parents hope.

"So what do you think about all this?" Draco spoke up. Leshia looked from her mother to her father and shook her head.

"I'm sure I'll be fine with it, I just…" She trailed off and looked to her mother's bump; now she knew of its existence she couldn't understand how she could have missed it. "I just need some time to get my head round it." This was as good an answer as they were going to get and for a moment Hermione was overcome with joy. Draco too couldn't have expected more from the girl and for a moment Leshia was enveloped in her parents' arms.

"Oh my God, Owen!" Leshia suddenly yelped and she tried to pull free.

"Yes, about that," Draco suddenly spoke up with surprising and unexpected force. Leshia rolled her eyes to the heavens and actually cracked a smile.

"God, I hope it's a girl so you can stop treating me like a baby." With this the girl rushed to the door, entirely missing the jubilation that passed from mother to father. Hermione was now entirely convinced they would be a happy family after all, but these sentiments Draco found hard to subscribe to. They were far from being out of the woods yet.

It took Leshia all of two minutes to find the tall boy who had not left her side since the moment she picked him up at the pub. She apologised profusely for leaving him stranded on the pavement and offered her thanks for looking after her, to both of which he said she was not to mention another word about it; what were friends for after all?

Leshia's last task of the night in overcoming the grief that had so tainted the end of the year was to seek out the two lovebirds that had spawned her emotional rollercoaster ride and make her peace with them. They too weren't difficult to find, having not moved from the 'muggle room'. When Leshia walked in she found them nestled into the cosiest settee, hands loosely intertwined gazing adoringly at one another with Parys and Rachel sat beside them shooting them despairing looks. Even Leshia's entrance didn't seem to break them apart, though they did look humbled.

"Where have you been?" Rachel asked awkwardly when Leshia joined them. The blonde girl smiled wryly and looked to Katie and Rodeo.

"My parents, they had something to tell me," she sighed. "And what about you guys? Looks like you've got something to tell me as well?" The smile pulling at her lips came easier than she had expected and within no time she was properly grinning at the loved up pair. The relief that poured from them was so palpable it was almost embarrassing.

"Thanks Leesh," Katie mouthed to her friend when Rodeo turned to beam at a much-relieved Parys: so far so good. Leshia nodded with a heartfelt smile to one of her oldest friends; how could she deny such an important person in her life this chance at happiness? No matter how deeply Leshia cared for Rodeo, she cared deeper still for Katie and would do anything in her power to protect her and keep her happy: ever the Malfoy.

"So what did your parents want you for? More old chums to do the meet and greet with?" Rachel asked cheerfully, a silly giddiness having taken over her senses now all seemed well once more. Leshia smiled wryly and shook her head wanting ever so much to taunt them with, 'You'll never guess', knowing that they never would, but instead she merely stated with a cool and level head,

"They're having another baby." Silence filled the room as Leshia's words filtered out in waves. Within moments every youngster in the room had heard and all anyone could do was stare.

"Damn," Rachel finally spoke in a slow tone, a strange smile pulling at her lips. "You've upstaged me. I was about to tell you all that my parents are getting divorced."

XXX

No girls had such stories of the holidays to tell, as did the third year girls from Gryffindor. With one's parents getting divorced, one finally getting together with the boy of her dreams and one finding out she was to have a baby brother or sister, their gossip spread through third year like some new and exotic disease. By the time the train pulled into Hogsmeade station everybody aboard the Hogwarts Express had heard the news and consequently everywhere Hermione turned she was receiving congratulations from the student body. Draco, not so approachable, glared at anyone who dared to glance in his direction with a smile.

"We should have told her not to say anything," Draco grumbled on their carriage ride back to the station. Hermione chuckled happily – she had been very happy lately her husband had noticed.

"It's pretty difficult to hide now darling." Glancing down at the growing bump Draco smiled despite himself and nodded.

"True." Appreciatively he stroked his wife's bump, wondering at the little person that lay beyond. Telling Leshia had liberated his imagination and whereas before he had only ever pictured just one more version of their daughter, now he found himself free to wonder at what other combinations he and Hermione could produce. What if they were to have a boy? Draco twitched despite himself.

"Darling what's wrong?" Hermione asked in surprise eliciting a firm shake of the head from her husband.

"Nothing," he lied, unable to express his fears at producing a son. The name Malfoy ought to die with him: the last of the true Malfoys. No man could ever live again with the traits of the dark wizarding family. No man could ever rise to be as great as Draco nor as terrible as Lucius. Draco Malfoy could have no son. He could have no heir. He could not risk unleashing upon the wizarding world the possibility of another tyrant.

A beautiful cosy dinner lay waiting for the students and teachers the moment they wandered into the castle out of the snow. At Gryffindor table people were finding it difficult to miss the new couple on the scene and with the regular adoring glances they shot at one another and the loosely entwined arms Rodeo and Katie weren't trying to play down their attachment to one another. Across the hall those third year girls who had not quite believed that the delectable Rodeo was unavailable now saw in misery that the rumours had been true. Even those at the top table had noticed; after all, the teaching body too found enjoyment in the veritable drama stories than enveloped their pupils. What better soap story than a co-ed boarding school full of teenagers?

"Oh poor Leshia," Hermione suddenly exclaimed over her soup. She and Draco had yet to hear the rumours some of their colleagues already felt was old news. Draco looked up sharply at these words, but didn't notice anything untoward. In fact, their daughter was mid raucous laughter at some obscure story Rachel was telling. She looked far from warranting the words 'poor Leshia'. With a wrinkled brow Draco turned back to his wife. She smiled adoringly at him.

"Try again, this time don't look at Leshia," Hermione teased. With a frustrated sigh Draco looked back to the table, this time he caught sight of Rodeo and Katie exchanging a shy embarrassed kiss.

"Oh," he suddenly remarked. Confused as ever with Leshia's moods, feelings and wild emotions Draco had managed to gauge which of her many male friends were particular favourites of hers and though he tried very hard not to think about it he had come to accept that one day, due to mutual adoration on the boy's part, Rodeo and Leshia might become an item. This was as far as Draco's thoughts on the matter had ventured. He had not known that there was a third contender in the match and as such was very surprised to see Katie now suddenly attached to the boy's side. With raised eyebrows Draco turned to his wife, who had known all along the ins and outs of situation and had predicted this might happen. With Katie's maturing above and beyond the other two, how could it not?

"I don't want to hear it," Draco suddenly stated simply when Hermione opened her mouth to explain the whole sorry saga to him, before he reached out his hand and stroked Hermione's growing bump. "When this one's born we're keeping it under lock and key until it turns eighteen. No more bloody romances agreed? I'm going to go grey before the year is out. I know it." Hermione laughed at her husband's dramatics adding to the general mirth of the evening.

On their steady amble back to the common room Leshia came face to face with Owen Gabriel for the first time since that embarrassing evening when she must have appeared such a spoilt brat. Blushing a little she smiled at the boy on their way up the great staircase.

"Hi," she offered, which he returned with a dashing grin.

"Practice tomorrow Malfoy, Mila's just told me," the boy continued with as much ease as though the week preceding the holidays and the holidays themselves had never happened. "Hope you didn't eat too many mince pies. Can't have you rolling off your broom again can we?" For a minute Leshia felt puzzled by the immense disappointment that permeated her mind. Why did it matter that Owen had assumed the roll of mere friend once more? What did she expect?

"For your information," the girl countered, forcing herself to sound natural. "I don't even like mince pies."

XXX

Settling back into the rhythm of the castle took some getting used to by the excitable youngsters still reeling from their exciting holidays. Leshia and her friends were no different and for the first few days of school life they managed to land themselves in two detentions with, quite surprisingly, Professor Sprout and Professor Binns.

Lined up outside muggle studies on Tuesday morning the girls were still complaining about their punishments, one of which would take place after school.

"I didn't even know Binns gave detentions," Leshia grumbled. "I mean have you ever heard anyone say 'got to go now, I've got a detention with Binns'?" Rachel and Katie laughed happily at their friend and shook their heads truthfully.

"It's not like we did anything too terrible," Rachel added to her Leshia's grumblings. A sound escaped Katie's throat that suggested she felt they had.

"You two were _asleep_! I only got in trouble with you because I was trying to help you." Leshia and Rachel glanced to one another with furrowed brows.

"Oh come on," Leshia complained with a grin. "_Everybody_ sleeps in History of Magic! How anyone stays awake with all that endless rambling is completely and utterly beyond me."

"I manage," Katie countered snootily

"Yeah, but you're not normal," Rachel concluded. "It's a bit of a jip though, I mean half the class was sleeping, why should we get in trouble?"

"You were snoring Rachel," Katie exclaimed in bewilderment. How could her friends not see how they had brought this situation on themselves? "And you," Katie wheeled on Leshia. "You fell off your chair. You couldn't have made it more obvious, the pair of you." Leshia and Rachel grinned at one another.

"You didn't have to get involved though," Rachel offered gratefully, to which Katie returned a mischievous smile.

"Yes I did, I've always wondered what Binns does in his spare time."

"Ha," Leshia spoke aloud sounding amazed. "One week with Rodeo and you've turned into one of us." Thankfully at this point the youngsters were interrupted by the door flying open revealing a class of first years rushing off chattering loudly. After the rabble had cleared the third years were able to file inside and find their usual seats. Professor Lewis was looking more jovial and captivating than ever and as such the moment they sat down the youngsters waited in silence for their adored teacher to start doing what he did best.

"Good morning everyone," the kind-faced man spoke jovially to his class. "I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas." Several nods around the classroom confirmed his assertion allowing him to continue. "Today's lesson will be a little different. As you know this term we are going to start a topic I have called 'Muggle Towns'. The highlight, I hope, will be our fieldtrip." Excited whispers broke out over the room and for a moment Lewis waited patiently for them to ebb away. "In February, about seven weeks away or so, I have been permitted to take you for an excursion in Manchester. I would have loved to take you all to London where we would most definitely come face to face with the largest muggle city of them all, but I fear it is too large for us to truly appreciate what we have learnt. Manchester is my hometown and I know it well. It is as varied as London yet on a much smaller scale." The class watched their teacher silently, willing him to continue talking.

"There will be a great number of us going, as all classes from third year through seventh are going to be going." Once more excited whispers. "So I am going to require from you the utmost common sense and good behaviour. If between here and February you demonstrate that you will not be fit to come along then I'm afraid you will have to remain behind." Utmost silence filled the room. A fieldtrip was such a rarity that even the most outrageously behaved youngsters, case in point Leshia and her friends, would be as good as gold in order to go. "Right then, without further ado, let us begin today's lesson. Our topic for now is going to be city structure." With this the geography lesson on muggle cities began and though it bored some of the youngsters silly, they didn't make a sound lest they be left behind come the big day.

The following day brought the first Blue Lions meet of the New Year. The general consensus the group came to by the end concluded that nobody had experienced an ounce of peculiarity at home, indeed even the dreams and headaches had stopped, but the moment they returned to the castle the horrid strange goings on had began once more in force. In fact two muggle born girls had had to spend the night in the hospital wing due to the sheer agony of their headaches; headaches that Madam Pomfry in all her wisdom and experience could not heal.

Strange happenings had increased and Leshia and her friends started to feel incredibly uneasy in their castle home. Everywhere they went they sensed the sinister aura of a creature so malcontent it was lashing out at everything and everyone, but what it was they had no idea. The crunch point came the second week of term when a poor second year girl fell from the astrology tower during her lesson. Vanessa Pinkett was so badly injured she was rushed straight to St Mongos where thankfully they managed to put her back together again with no great trouble.

Upon her return the girl was given a hero's welcome and before too long her story flittered back to the Lions. Vanessa vowed that she hadn't slipped or lost her balance. No, she insisted she had been pushed, though with the gravity of such an accusation she kept it well hidden from the teachers, claiming to them instead that she had toppled clumsily over someone's bag.

After Vanessa Pinkett's story broke Leshia and her friends started trawling the library. It seemed to Leshia and Rachel that they had spent far too many hours researching in the library and they refused to enjoy it, but Katie insisted they go every spare moment of their time. The following Wednesday brought the next bi-weekly meeting with the Lions. Whereas some were dubious about Vanessa's declaration of foul play the second years amongst the group complained fervently that prior to Vanessa's fall they had been feeling sick and afraid and then they had seen the girl physically pushed from the turret by an invisible entity.

"It sounds so ridiculous," Paul, Owen Gabriel's friend and ever the cynic, grumbled. "Why haven't the teachers put a stop to it if there's something untoward going on?"

"My dad's been assigned to it," Leshia explained. "And he's got other things on his mind. I'll bet now they all take it a lot more seriously though. That's the second outright attack. Parents'll start complaining soon."

"Oh there must be some clue," Katie suddenly exclaimed in frustration. "Something that we've overlooked." The youngsters wracked their brains. Surely the combined intellects of twenty something keen minded teenagers could crack a case such as this one?

"Other than the fact that nobody in Slytherin has been attacked or even voiced any concern there's not much for us to go on," Rachel finally spoke.

"How do you know Slytherin are in the clear?"

"I asked my little sister Hermia," Rachel retorted defensively before she shuddered despite herself. She and Hermia were enemies to the end and it had taken a vast amount of nerve to ask the younger girl about strange goings on. Hermia's disgust and confusion when Rachel tried very haphazardly to explain what she meant was answer enough that nobody in Slytherin had voiced any concerns over strange goings on; at least not in Hermia's presence.

"Well that means they're behind it doesn't it?" Rodeo now asked, but Leshia shook her head.

"Not necessarily. Whatever is doing this might just be a ghoul or monster that shares their vision of a Slytherin only school. We can't rule out the possibility that they've got nothing to do with this."

"That doesn't sound like you," Katie remarked amusedly. Leshia let the jibe slide and instead stepped down to allow the others to discuss what she had said. There was no such objectiveness from the crowds, who were all ready to see Slytherin bite the bullet and take the blame. By the end of the meeting they left trying to pinpoint characters within the motley bunch that could possibly pull something like this off.

"I'll bet it's all Allseyer's work," Rachel announced to her friends while Katie finished writing in the ledger. At her side Rodeo was playing with her hair and making things difficult for her, but she was loving every minute. Parys too had remained behind and lay stretched out on the comfortable cushions now vacated.

"What makes you think he's up to it?" the dark boy piped up mid-stretch. "I mean I know he's a loser, but still, that's not definitive proof is it?"

"He's the only one in that house with the intelligence to pull it off though," Rachel countered.

"What about Julius Black?" Everyone stopped and stared at Leshia, who had spoken these words. They hadn't thought to incriminate Julius Black, as the boy's actions in the past had not hinted at murderous tendencies. "Well he's cleverer than Allseyer by far and he's got the darker family history. He could have easily found something monstrous and brought it back."

"His family history is no darker than yours and you don't just find terrifying entities lying around your house do you?" Katie countered. Leshia grinned.

"Yeah, but I don't go looking for them. All I'm saying is you've all fallen in love with Julius Black when in actual fact he's the most dangerous person in that house. You don't know what he's capable of."

"Oh and you do?" Rachel snorted. "Just because he doesn't want to be friends with you doesn't mean he's evil Leesh." Like a missile Leshia flung a pillow across the room, smacking her best friend in the face, who erupted into a fit of giggles.

"And he's always looked out for you," Katie added.

"Well I don't care what you say," Leshia finally grumbled. "I don't trust him."

XXX

A week passed in which more strange goings on irked Leshia something terrible. She kept a keen eye on Julius Black, but the stoical enigmatic young man didn't give any hint as to any involvement in the sinister events wracking the castle and its occupants. He seemed oblivious even to Leshia's obvious observations of him, though of course this wasn't the case and when the girl wasn't watching he would surreptitiously glance back in her direction. He could see she needed more help.

Come Friday evening and the student body was loud and raucous with energy and weekend anticipation. A trip to Hogsmeade had been arranged and as such they were all in high spirits. It was a small wonder that the youngsters fell silent when Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"I trust you are all enjoying your dinners," the Headmaster greeted his pupils. "And you need not worry, it is not I who will be boring you with one of my many announcements. Instead I would like you to remain attentive and respectful of the girls who are about to speak. No doubt what they have to tell you will have you all shrieking with excitement, but please contain yourselves until they are through." With this the Headmaster looked to his right and nodded to two girls Leshia didn't particularly recognise. Once they had taken the centre stage however, Katie was kind enough to fill everyone in.

"That's Eva Westwood and Tara Peters," the bespectacled girl whispered loudly for all to hear. "They're the queen bees over at Slytherin."

"Katie," Rachel stated calmly. "Do you know everything?" While Leshia sniggered, Katie saw the mocking for what it was and stuck her tongue out at her cousin. "No I'm serious…"

"Do you two mind? I'm trying to listen," Leshia hushed her friends, focusing on the attractive pair on stage; for some reason she had a very bad feeling about all of this.

"Hello Hogwarts!" one of the girls bellowed over the intrigued audience. "Sorry to interrupt your dinner, but we won't take up too much of your time we promise."

"We're just here to announce and explain," the second girl continued in an equally as dominating tone. "A new competition. Now I'm sorry to say that it's nothing like the thrilling ISQT cup we held here last term, it's a little more low key than that."

"But hopefully no less exciting," the other cut in.

"Yes absolutely. Some of you may have heard about our plans, I think everyone in Slytherin has known for quite some time now…"

"Oh get on with it," Rachel muttered under her breath over at Gryffindor table while dramatically Leshia dropped her head in her forearms. That last sentence had confirmed her worst fears.

"What's wrong with you?" Parys asked amusedly.

"Wait for it," Leshia groaned, holding up her finger waiting for the catch line.

"This year Hogwarts is going to play host to our very own beauty pageant," the girls at the front of the hall cheered in unison. As though she were striking a symbol Leshia struck her finger down eliciting bouts of laughter from her friends.

"We're calling it Miss Hogwarts," the first girl explained, talking loudly over the chatter that had broken out across the hall (and the laughter over on Gryffindor table). "In the weeks running up to Valentines Day you can nominate people by placing their name into the boxes stationed about the school. They will all look like this and have the submitting forms attached to the side." Here the second girl held up a pink box adorned with sparkling stars.

"Fantastic," Leshia muttered sardonically.

"You won't be able to put your own name in we've made sure of that and each of you will only be able to submit one entry."

"On Valentines Day itself the nominees will be revealed and once more we will ask you to vote for who you believe is Miss Hogwarts in your eyes. We'll reveal the procedure for that day nearer to the time."

"Right, I think that's it," number one was concluding, looking to the side in deep thought in order to ascertain whether she had forgotten anything. Once she had decided that they had explained everything the two girls waved theatrically to the crowds before making their way back to their table. Their departure was met by shrill cheers from the female members of the student body – and those boys who thought the pageant may resemble the muggle beauty pageants they might have seen on muggle televisions.

The pageant dominated the conversations of every house the entire weekend. The trip to Hogsmeade was rather pushed into the backs of everybody's minds and even when they descended on the village it was all most could talk about. Katie particularly, grew incredibly excited about the pageant and whenever they passed one of the pink boxes she grew little giddy. Rachel and Leshia however, would not let her speak of it in their presence; they thought it was far too silly and would not even acknowledge its existence.

Katie instead had to contain all her feelings on the matter for when she could drape herself over Rodeo in the common room and talk his ear off about the upcoming beauty competition. He had remarkable patience and whenever the issue was raised he told her she would no doubt be one of the nominees, if not the grand prize Miss Hogwarts. That Katie was the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts was an oversight, but in Rodeo's eyes his new girlfriend was the most beautiful girl in the whole school.

In fact earlier that day he had dragged Parys to one of the more out-of-the-way boxes and had tried to submit many forms with Katie's name emblazoned on them in his scruffy script. The magic controlling the submission boxes however, had evidently been devised by a greater wizard than he and he couldn't get round the magic preventing him from ensuring his girlfriend got through.

"Oh this is crap," Rodeo grumbled and he strew the forms in this hand out of the window before he wheeled on Parys. "Well go on then, you haven't submitted one yet have you?"

"Mate you can't just go round recruiting all your friends to vote for Katie, I'm sure there's some sort of magic stopping you from forcing people you know." Rodeo stared tiredly at his best friend.

"Parys don't make me beg." The darker boy looked to his feet and rubbed the back of his head.

"I can't."

"What? Why not?" Rodeo demanded with a heavy frown.

"I already nominated someone," his friend uttered quietly. Rodeo's frown intensified, before he suddenly threw his head back in defeat.

"You picked Leshia didn't you?" he groaned.

"Why say it like that? She's the fittest girl we know."

"Yeah, but she doesn't even care," Rodeo complained miserably. "It's like the most important thing in Katie's life right now, but Leshia, well she doesn't even let Katie talk about it in front of her." Parys chuckled despite himself. "It's not funny!"

"Yeah it is Rodes, Leesh is a pretty funny girl."

"I hope you mean funny as in messed in the head," Rodeo sighed sounding aggravated. Now it was Parys' turn to frown.

"Mate that's harsh," he admonished firmly. "So she doesn't care about all the normal girly things. Neither does Rachel, but you don't complain about her." Rodeo stared his friend in the eye wondering which of them was going to back down, before he realised that yes, he had overstepped the mark.

"You're right, sorry. You know I didn't mean it."

"Well that's what I'm worried about," Parys countered, before he started back down the corridor towards Gryffindor tower.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter. Let's just go back."

"Parys stop! What did you mean?" Rodeo had now caught up to his best friend and was looking to him firmly, demanding an explanation.

"Well it's just ever since you and Katie you know, well you've been really off with Leshia. I don't understand, you're the one that changed everything," Parys tried to explain meekly. Indeed he hadn't expressed his feelings very well, but they were spot on. Rodeo's attitude towards Leshia had changed significantly since he and Katie finally decided to give it a go. He could not know it was a defence mechanism, a way of forcing himself to believe in his heart that he had made the right choice, that he didn't like Leshia better.  
"I just don't like the way Katie feels like nothing compared to her. You should hear her sometimes, it's like Leshia's the grand master of the school and we all have to follow her lead."

"Yeah but that's just Katie's insecurity!" Parys countered, finally allowing the passion to enter his voice now he felt his best friend had crossed the line. "Leshia hates it that the lower school sees her as some sort of deity. You know she does, and just because Katie is too insecure to stand up for what she believes in doesn't mean you should suddenly turn your back on a really good friend. Leshia came first, remember? God, you didn't even like Katie when we first all started hanging out together. Girlfriends come and go Rodes, but friends, they're for life." Rodeo stared Parys in the eye seemingly wanting to battle his corner fervently, but common sense prevailed and he nodded briskly.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm not bashing Leesh, far from it, I just have to put Katie first now…you know?" Feeling suddenly sorry for his tormented friend Parys grinned.

"The grass is always greener mate."

XXX

Draco was enjoying his weekend thoroughly. Yes Hermione was going through some record-breaking mood swings and sending him on errands to the kitchens in the middle of the night with the most peculiar requests. Her latest fad was dried beef with whipped cream on top drizzled with vinegar. It sickened Draco to his stomach to watch her eat it, but every time she made a request he obliged with all his heart; she was about to bare him a second child after all.

Other than that however, the young man had enjoyed the castle emptying of most of its pupils for half the weekend immensely. He did not think anything could get in his way as he made his way down to breakfast on Sunday morning with Hermione still tucked up in bed. He was wrong.

Draco noticed the yellowing parchment tucked under his plate before he'd even sat down. The sight of it made his stomach perform veritable somersaults within the confines of his chest and for a moment he did not want to sit down.

'This can't be happening again,' he told himself inwardly. 'Surely I've done enough!' Furious that he was being blackmailed once more Draco sat down heavily, taking the parchment into his hand in a fluid motion not even Professor Sprout noticed though she was looking directly at him wishing him a good morning. The young man returned her greeting dutifully and struck up a slight conversation. Acting naturally in the face of great adversity was something Draco had always been good at; it was what made him such a good liar. Finally when the portly head of Hufflepuff had turned back to her breakfast Draco glanced down at the parchment in his hand and immediately a small sound of dismay crossed his lips.

"I can't do that," the young man uttered despite his immense amounts of training and control.

"Can't do what?" Professor Sprout returned, imagining Draco to be continuing their conversation.

"Oh sorry," Draco quickly offered and he shoved the parchment away into his pocket. "I was talking to myself."

"Don't we all?" his table neighbour chortled happily. Though he smiled warmly at the old teacher Draco's eyes remained icily cool, as his keen mind calculated all the options, trying to find an escape route. Surely he couldn't do what that wretched note had asked him to? With grave eyes the young man turned from his conversation to glance at Gryffindor table where Leshia sat chatting happily with her friends. His heavy heart knew there was no alternative.

XXX

"Katie! Katie!" The cry of a fraught Samuel Thomas, one of Rodeo and Parys' dormitory friends rang through the common room late that Sunday afternoon. Everyone stopped whatever it was they were doing to stare in bewilderment at the young man charging into the room with a terrified urgency.

"Over here!" Rachel called out when her cousin seemed paralysed by the intense worry that had suddenly come over her. Sam reached the table where they had been doing their Runes homework within moments.

"It's Rodeo," the boy panted, his hand pointing towards the portrait hall. "You've got to come quickly. He's been hurt!"

"How?" Leshia now piped up, remaining calm in the fraught situation. Had Katie seemed withdrawn at the entrance of the boy that was nothing to how numb she had gone now. With white skin and wide eyes she was incapable of even movement.

"We were…" For a moment the boy spluttered for air and panted more heavily. "We were playing football outside. Rodes went off to get the ball. He never came back." Leshia was on her feet within seconds and after an urgent nod to Rachel they heaved their paralysed friend to her feet.

"Come on Katie, deal with it or stay behind," Leshia told her almost coldly. Katie obeyed the small girl and followed the other three out in a state of shock. On their way to the hospital wing Sam explained that they had found their friend cut, bruised and unconscious on the tree line. When Sam had rushed off to get the girls the boy had not yet come to.

By the time the messenger and the girls had reached the hospital Rodeo had thankfully received treatment and had been awake for most of it. Seeing her boyfriend beaten to within an inch of his life knocked Katie's senses back into her and the moment they crossed the threshold she bolted to the boy's side, throwing her arms around him. She pawed over his injuries in a state of complete despair, but he batted her away claiming most of the apparent wounds were mere mud stains.

"What were you doing playing in the torrential rain anyway?" Katie demanded panic-struck. Rodeo chuckled, but didn't defend himself. He was happy for the attention as Leshia and Rachel too descended on him, though he wouldn't catch Leshia's eye. The girl noticed and instantly her calculative mind started pondering why he would avoid her gaze. What had she done?

"What happened?" Katie demanded. Rodeo smiled wryly.

"I got beaten up."

"Yeah, we can see that, but by who?" Leshia asked amusedly. Still the boy would not catch her eye.

"I don't know," he replied, staring instead straight ahead at the opposite bed. "They crept up on me when my back was turned. I didn't get a good look at them."

"Do you remember anything about them?" Rachel urged. Finally Rodeo briefly flicked his eyes on to Leshia's calm face, before he looked away promptly. When he next spoke there was a colour rising in his cheeks,

"It was a man, I'm sure of it. Tall with very short hair…that's all…that's all I remember." Leshia narrowed her eyes in understanding and for a moment she hated the boy. Without any explanation as to her actions Leshia climbed to her feet and was all set on walking out of the door. "Leshia stop!" Rodeo called after her, his voice was sincerely apologetic. "I don't think it was your…you know." The girl counted calmly to ten to still the anger that had washed over her moments before until finally she wheeled around and sat back down on the end of the bed with everyone staring at her in confusion, save Rodeo who looked very sorry for even implying Draco could have attacked him.

"You'd better not Holsson," the girl stated firmly without a trace of mirth in her steely tone.

"Leshia he's just been beaten up! Leave him alone," Katie admonished the small blonde girl, who nodded quickly.

"Sorry." The rest of the visit in the hospital wing was tainted for Leshia, who try as she might, could not relax and settle into the others' fun making. She had been rattled and would no doubt be on edge the rest of the day. Before too long Madam Pomfry chased the youngsters away and Rodeo with them; he was free to go she concluded. The attention being doted on Rodeo lasted through to the common room and was still going strong when Leshia excused herself to go and have dinner with her parents in their chambers as was becoming a Sunday tradition.

The Malfoy chambers were as welcoming as ever with delicious smells enticing Leshia in before she'd even stepped through the doorway. Inside gentle candlelight lit the messy room giving it a homely feel and for a moment Leshia felt a stab of pain. What would it be like should her parents move back home to have their new baby? What would it be like to come into these chambers and find them dark and alone?

Shaking off the strange shudder that had suddenly come over her Leshia started into the room. Without quite understanding what had happened Leshia found herself suddenly on the floor.

"Leshia?" Hermione's call came and moments later she appeared laughing herself silly at the girl sprawled out on the floor. "What are you doing down there?" Her daughter rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"Well obviously I tripped," she retorted, before she squirmed onto her knees to see what had brought her to the ground so painfully. The instant her eyes fell on the large pair of boots covered in mud her brow dipped in concern.

"Oh I told your father not to leave them by the door," Hermione suddenly sighed and she went to finally move the offending footwear herself. "Honestly darling, he's been in a strange mood all afternoon, even for him."

"Where is he?"

"Shower. And that's his third since he came in from the rain!" A lump was forming in Leshia's throat, which she couldn't push away with common sense.

"What was he doing out in the rain?"

"Oh I don't know, he won't tell me." Leshia followed her mother into the kitchen where she had been preparing the traditional Sunday roast with utmost attention and care. It was no wonder she had been too distracted to truly push Draco on his whereabouts and it also explained why she hadn't mentioned Rodeo's attack. Prior to the girls' arrival he had been questioned by Professor McGonagall, so no doubt most of the teaching staff had heard.

"Rodeo was attacked this afternoon," Leshia announced without warning. Hermione wheeled round in shock splattering the kitchen and her daughter with gravy from the ladle she held clasped in her hand.

"What? Is he okay? Who attacked him?"

"Yeah he's fine, he was just beaten up. He didn't get a good look at whoever it was, but he does seem to think it was a man." Hermione didn't draw the same conclusion that Leshia had.

"Well that's very peculiar, what man could be stalking Hogwarts attacking pupils? Where did it happen?"

"Out in the grounds. They were playing football and the ball rolled away so he went to get it down by the forest." In the living room the sound of the bedroom door opening caused Leshia to rush inside to see her father emerging fresh from his third shower of the afternoon.

"Hi dad," the girl called to him, her expression revealing a trace of the suspicion rattling about her mind. Draco, though normally he would have picked up on her behaviour, merely nodded to her and went to look through some papers on the coffee table. There was something very serious on his mind. "You shouldn't leave your boots lying right by the door you know," the girl continued and she went to sit down at her dad's side. "I nearly cracked my head open tripping over them."

"Oh well," Draco finally spoke. "Better luck next time."

"Hey," Leshia laughed. "So what were you doing out in the rain anyway? Didn't anyone tell you when you were a child that that's a wonderful way to catch a cold?"

"Leshia stop being so damn clever and go and help your mother." His tone meant no arguments and for a moment Leshia considered going against his wishes and persisting on the matter, but after examining her father's knuckles and finding them clear she finally felt the defensiveness kick in: why should Rodeo cause her to doubt her own father? It was ridiculous.

"Sorry," the girl uttered and after quickly hugging her father around his neck she rushed off to help Hermione serve up the delicious roast. More confirmation of Draco's innocence in Leshia's eyes came when he seemed subtly surprised that Rodeo had been attacked and started asking all sorts of questions that surely struck him off the list of suspects. Leshia went to bed that night certain of her father's innocence and terribly rattled that Rodeo, who already had been treating her miserably, could dare to suggest Draco had attacked him.

"Why would dad bother with him anyway?" the girl whispered into the gloom.

XXX

Leshia's treatment of Rodeo over the following few days was terribly cold. Katie hassled the girl to relax saying that her new boyfriend had not intended to incriminate Leshia's father. The small blonde girl however, pointed out that usually perceptive Katie was being blinded by ignorance in the name of love if she didn't realise what Rodeo had been doing. Their regular catfights gave the dormitory a very frosty feel, despite the weather starting to brighten up ever so slightly outside. February had now dawned on the frozen castle and with it the occasional glimpse of sunshine and the spring to come. February also brought with it excitement about the impending Miss Hogwarts competition and whereas it had been put on the backburner for quite some time, now discussions about it were out in force.

The Lions were all to eager to attend their biweekly meeting the Wednesday following Rodeo's attack and as usual everyone was on time and ready to begin. Rodeo's unfortunate incident took centre stage and attracted great debate about whether they ought to consider it part of the mysterious negative entity floating about the place or whether it had quite an un-mysterious story behind it. Rodeo fervently insisted he had felt all the symptoms described by the other attacks: great unexplained fear and the stench of death.

"But all the other attacks were carried out by an _invisible_ entity," Gracie of Ravenclaw said firmly. "You saw your attacker."

"But there was something very not normal about him," Rodeo complained. "He didn't look real."

"But if we do include this then it makes it much more complicated," Leshia explained. "Because now we'll have to look for a being that can transcend different states don't we? Something that can take on human form and something poltergeist-like that we can't see at all."

"Maybe this thing is actually a physical human form that controls things from a distance?" Katie suggested; she had been fighting Rodeo's corner the entire duration of the discussion. Everyone frowned at the girl. "Well think about it, maybe it can somehow harness powers over gravity or something that allows it to carry out attacks from a distance, but with Rodeo it just attacked."

"Hey that's a really good point!" Rodeo piped up happily.

"So basically what you're saying is it's a wizard doing it?" Leshia stated incredulously. Katie thought for a moment and then nodded unsurely.

"Sort of, but of course not a normal wizard…"

"And the feelings of immense terror and the stench of death?" the small blonde girl continued bluntly, her cold eyes forcing Katie to look away feeling bullied. Just why Leshia should take her suggestion so personally she couldn't understand, but Leshia was only thinking about what Rodeo had suggested before, that her father was behind all the attacks.

"Leshia ease up, I thought everyone's allowed to talk freely in this group," Rodeo complained almost aggressively. Leshia turned to look him in the eye with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, and she did speak freely didn't she? Aren't I allowed to speak freely too?"

"You're bullying her."

"Guys!" Parys suddenly spoke up drawing all attention onto himself. "This isn't helping." In agreement with the boy Leshia quietened down and remained so for the rest of the meeting. She was not having a good week as far as friends were concerned. Rachel had stated clearly that she didn't want to get involved in the battle and Parys wasn't much help either leaving the girl feeling very ganged up on by the double-team that was Katie and Rodeo. After she had been such a good sport about their union she felt incredibly hard done by to suddenly be on the receiving end of their protectiveness over one another.

Feeling very deserted by her friends Leshia took to spending more and more time on her own researching in the library. Never informing her friends she always managed to find herself some time on her own to think things over and get away from feeling bullied by Katie and Rodeo and abandoned by Rachel and Parys. She had started scouring random titles on the shelves for mentions of the creature they were looking for, but so far she had not found anything vaguely resembling what they were looking for. The situation was growing insurmountable and overwhelming.

Early Saturday morning Leshia made her way to the library before any of her friends finding it deserted. Never before had she been the first one in the library and the sight of her caught the librarian so off guard she uttered squeak of surprise. Leshia tried her best to ignore the neurotic woman and made her way to her usual table where she took down a random volume and started leafing through the pages.

She didn't remain the only occupant of the library very long, as within no time the regular bookworms started appearing, remaining so much in the background Leshia didn't even notice them drifting in around her until someone sat down right beside her. In surprise the girl slammed her book shut and looked up to see none other than Julius Black watching her with an amused expression.

"Sorry," he finally whispered. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't," Leshia complained defensively, forgetting to lower her voice to a whisper and instantly regretting to do so when she was quite unceremoniously shushed by the fussy librarian. "What are you doing here Black?" she whispered once she had offered the librarian an apologetic smile.

"Do you hold some sort of monopoly over the library or something?" Julius chuckled quietly. "I know you've been spending a lot of time here, but…"

"Have you been following me?" Leshia demanded under her breath.

"Oh don't flatter yourself," the boy countered amusedly. "I know you have been terribly busy researching…something, but I've been sat across the library from you every time you have skulked in picking random titles off the shelves."

"I do not skulk," Leshia bristled. "And I can't help it you're a loner and spend all your time in here, but I'm terribly busy."

"Yes I can see, though what you are looking for I haven't quite worked out yet. There seems to be no pattern to the books you take off the shelves."

"It's none of your business anyway."

"Perhaps not," the boy sighed and he looked down at the books he had placed down in front of him. They seemed to be a random assortment of runes books open on various different pages and stacked atop one another in disarray. "But you would not accept advice were I to give it." Had Leshia been her more perceptive self and not spitting with anger over the boy then she might have realised she could utilise him. He was evidently tying to help her, but she couldn't see past her own rage. Julius Black wanted to shake her for it.

"I most certainly would not. You don't like me remember? Any help you were to give would most likely get me blown up or something." The girl seemed so resolute in her dislike of the boy that he got to his feet lifting his many books with him.

"Allies need not like each other Malfoy," Julius Black said very quietly, his peculiar eyes boring deeply into Leshia's.

"And enemies certainly don't," the girl countered firmly. After a mere nod Julius Black took his leave, heading for the other end of the library to his usual table to do his work. Leshia watched him go and felt infuriated by his meddling. Only when she turned back to her book did she noticed the boy had forgotten one of his many books. Leshia stared at the pages furiously, why did Julius Black rattle her so much? Resolutely she slammed the boy's book shut and shoved it away from herself, focusing on the large volume she had picked out.

"Ruddy Slytherin snakes the lot of them!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Surprise mini-chapter for you all to say HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for the feedback on the last chapter, made me soooooo happy. I couldn't stop grinning while I read the forum entries, there was like a full-on conversation going on there! Man I loved it.

Season's greetings to all!


	10. Part Ten

**Generations: The Blue Lions**

**Part X**

After exhausting all possible leads in her chosen volume Leshia slammed it shut with a heavy sigh. Julius Black was right; she had no idea what she was doing. Quidditch practice was looming and after putting away the tomes she had taken from the shelves willy-nilly Leshia ambled off to change. Gryffindor tower was bustling with a hive of activity; so much so that the small girl managed to squeeze through the energetic youngsters without being seen by her friends over in their normal window box, who seemed to be captivated by a funny story Rachel was telling them. With a stab of jealousy Leshia powered on changing with such vigour that she scratched herself several times by accident.

Less inconspicuous in her quidditch robes and carrying a large broom upon her return journey through the packed common room Leshia suddenly found herself being granted a clear path through the bustling bodies and consequently her friends spotted her.

"Leshia!" Rachel called out urgently, half on her feet already as she called after her friend.

"Sorry, got to go," Leshia called back before she quite promptly steamed out of the room. Her startling exit didn't fail to catch the attention of half the occupants of the room and though once she got out the door Leshia bombed it down the corridor in order to get away from any possible pursuers, she wasn't quite quick enough for a certain determined young man.

"Malfoy wait for me." Any other and Leshia would have carried on down the stairs, but she couldn't run from Owen Gabriel. Turning round she was rather discomfited to find the boy dressed in his normal clothes. Why wasn't he going to quidditch training?

"Why aren't you dressed?" the girl called to her friend as he jogged to catch up with her.

"Practice has been cancelled," he replied once he'd reached Leshia's side. "And if you hadn't been hiding out all morning then you would have been told."

"I haven't been hiding out. I've been in the library. Why is it cancelled?" the girl persisted, breezing over the pointed look Owen shot her when she said that she had been in the library.

"Too many people have mocks to worry about this week so Mila's postponed it," the boy explained. "Malfoy what's going on with you? It's like you've just dropped off the end of the world this week. And when I asked your friends where you were this morning they completely dodged the question."

"They would," Leshia muttered under her breath, unfortunately still loud enough for Owen to catch wind of it.

"What? Have you guys fallen out or something?"

"Owen just leave it, it's nothing."

"Well it's obviously something if you're spending your weekend hiding in the library."  
"I wasn't hiding," Leshia complained. "I was researching."

"Same difference," the tall boy countered brusquely. Wanting very much to snap back at the boy Leshia looked up into his eyes and faltered; there lay such concern that she wanted to cry. Here was a friend who would not simply abandon her the moment things turned sour. Here was a friend she could confide her deepest secrets in.

"It's Katie and Rodeo," the girl sighed, dropping down onto the stairs in defeat. After glancing over his shoulder Owen lowered himself onto the step beside her. "Ever since they got together they've been horrible to me, overreacting to every little thing I say, biting my head off the moment I disagree with one of them." The pent-up frustration with the unfairness of it all was coming out in one passionate vent and for now Owen waited while she got her breath back, keeping his thoughts to himself.

"And I just don't understand," the girl was now continuing. "I haven't changed! I'm still exactly the same, so why should they be horrible to me when I haven't done anything different? They're the ones who are different and I hate it!" Once more a pause while Leshia struggled to inhale another large breath before her tirade continued. Owen was finding it difficult to keep quiet and had to interject,

"Well what about Weasley and that Parys what's-his-name?"

"Oh don't get me started on _them_! They've completely abandoned me and just let Katie and Rodeo lay into me. Parys I can just about understand, he is Rodeo's best friend, but Rachel's mine and…" Leshia trailed off and hung her head pathetically. Seeing her this way was unnerving the tall boy at her side, who thought the girl had nerves of steel and impenetrable feelings. This was not Leshia Malfoy!

"Malfoy!" Owen stated firmly causing Leshia to look up at him in surprise. "Stop feeling so God-damned sorry for yourself. Since when have you let people get away with treating you like crap?"

"What?" the girl bristled.

"There you go," Owen chuckled. "You shouldn't let them get away with it Malfoy. Now save the anger you have for me right now and go direct it at that moron Holsson."

"He's not a moron Owen," Leshia sniggered, unable to hide her mirth at the boy's words.

"Malfoy any guy that chooses Katie Potter over you is a moron. Don't let them get away with it, they've hurt you bad enough already."

"No they haven't," Leshia countered, the colour rising in her cheeks at Owen's assumption that she was in tatters over Katie and Rodeo's flourishing relationship. Giving the girl a fond frustrated look Owen finally smiled and nodded.

"Sure Malfoy, whatever you say."

"Owen!"

"Hey I'm just calling it the way I see it."

"Well you must need glasses then." Smiling adoringly at the girl Owen nodded and looked to the ground. He still didn't trust himself completely to look into those beautiful grey eyes for too long lest he succumb once more to the girl's siren-like pull. "Thanks for taking my side," Leshia added softly, staring at the boy intently, willing him to look at her once more.

"Don't be stupid Malfoy," Owen complained brusquely and he wrapped an arm around the girl, pulling her into the crook of his arm in a semi-headlock so he could ruffle her hair. "I'm always on your side."

"Owen!" Leshia shrieked with mirth as he continued to frantically mess up her hair. "Get off me you big bully!"

"Now what did I just tell you about sticking up for yourself?" Owen laughed, which he soon regretted when Leshia took matters into her own hands and turned her expert tickling fingers on his ribs. Within seconds he had been degraded into a giggling wreck trying desperately to struggle away from the girl.

"Miss Malfoy! Mr Gabriel! That is enough!" The course disapproving voice of Professor Snape broke the two playing youngsters apart as though they had been shunted with an electric shock. With red cheeks the pair climbed to their feet and stood before the bemused potions master.

"Afternoon Professor," Owen tried cheerily.

"Detention, both of you!"

"Ah what for?" Leshia demanded petulantly, receiving an elbow to her side from Owen who was trying his best to pacify the teacher not wind him up.

"Behaving inappropriately," Snape hissed, glaring so ferociously at the girl that Owen raised his eyebrows a little. He had never witnessed the interactions between girl and teacher before and was quite glad he wasn't standing in Leshia's shoes at that moment.

"As if…" The girl was silenced by Owen clearing his throat loudly and shooting her a stern look. For a moment Snape stared at the pair of them in surprise; he had misread the situation. Here before him stood a young man with the powers to keep Alecia Malfoy under control.

"My office next Monday after lessons," the teacher said coolly, his temper now abated by the surprising new information that Leshia held Owen Gabriel in such high esteem that she actually listened to him. "And you Miss Malfoy had better watch your cheek. Five points from Gryffindor." With this the teacher flounced off leaving Leshia staring furiously at the spot he had vacated.

"You're mad you are," Owen remarked with a slightly amused expression, though his tone was stern. Leshia looked up at him with a cocky grin.

"I can't believe you're such a potion master's pet," she teased before she burst into an entirely over dramatised impression of the boy, "'Ooh Professor Snape, such lovely weather we're having. Oh my, is that a new cloak?'" After rolling his eyes to the sky with a big grin Owen finally reacted.

"Oh that is it," he said softly, before he suddenly lurched at the girl to continue his attack on her. With another shriek of mirth Leshia ran off down the corridor towards the portrait of the Fat Lady with Owen in close pursuit. He allowed her to get half through the portrait before he lunged at her getting her back for the relentless tickling she had subjected on him moments before. Their loud and raucous play fight attracted plenty of attention as they came struggling into the common room, and whereas most laughed and started egging on either party across the room Leshia's friends stared in silence.

"Aw aren't they just adorable?" Katie cooed, clutching her hands together to her chest. Rachel snorted.

"You're a nutter you are," the redhead concluded jubilantly.

"Oh they're just so perfect for each other," Katie sighed contentedly.

"No they're not!" Everyone stared in surprise at Rodeo, who had uttered this furious contradiction. Katie instantly assumed a wounded expression, one that Rodeo did not heed. "He's such a twat." Not wanting to get into an argument with the angry youngster the others looked away awkwardly while he seethed in silence.

Over in the middle of the common room the two play fighters had got themselves into rather a stalemate and after a moment's laughter it was Owen who conceded first,

"Truce?" he suggested to a chorus of laughter.

"Will you admit I won?" Leshia countered.

"Well that's not the point of a truce Malfoy." To a chorus of 'fight, fight, fight' Leshia finally let the boy go and both straightened up to the disappointed crowds, who had been enjoying the show.

"'Ooh Snape,'" the girl tried once more through a snigger and after laughing heartily Owen lunged once more at her lifting her clear off her feet and squeezing her so tightly the breath was forced from her lungs making the girl choke on her laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Are you really?" Owen asked calmly squeezing her even tighter.

"Yes I really am!" the girl laughed back raucously and when she thought she was going to pass out from running out of breath the tall boy finally dropped her to her feet and ruffled her hair firmly, sending her on her way.

"Remember what I said," the boy told her firmly, before he turned around in search of his own friends, who had been the prime cheerers in the audience. Leshia could sense the hostilities the moment she joined her friends, but with Owen's words ringing in her ears she sat down amongst them grinning fit to burst.

"Have fun did we?" Katie asked fondly, her hands still clasped to her front.

"Yeah, Owen's a laugh," the girl replied happily. Without warning Rodeo jumped to his feet with such vigour his chair toppled over backwards in his wake. "What's the matter with you?" Leshia demanded when the boy glared at her.

"He's not right for you Leesh," the boy stated firmly eliciting four wide-eyed-stares from his friends.

"What?" Leshia finally managed incredulously.

"You heard what I said."

"Rodes I know the two of you don't get on, but I am not going to just sit by while you treat me like crap and then try and dictate who I can and cannot see. So if you seriously want to remain my friend then you should get over yourself and sit down." For a moment the two locked eyes in battle until finally Rodeo slowly leant down and straightened his seat before he lowered himself into it staring now at his hands. Leshia furrowed her brow in pity and for the first time since this feud began she felt the fondness for Rodeo that had first urged her to make friends with him. He was just a slave to his emotions after all, and being a young man he could not yet regulate them.

"I hate fighting with you," Leshia stated gently, looking now to Katie as well. "Both of you. I mean what is going on with us? So you guys are going out, big deal! I still care about you just the same. So can't we all just get along?" Katie nodded fervently, the makings of tears in her eyes, but it took Rodeo a long time to look up into Leshia's eyes. When he did it broke his heart to see the kindness that lay there; all his efforts to convince himself that she wasn't a nice girl, that she was cruel and not worthy of his love had been in vain.

"Sorry," he conceded quietly and he hung his head a little.

"Exploding snap anybody?" Rachel suggested loudly to break up the awkwardness of the situation.

"Well that depends," Leshia countered coldly, turning on Rachel with an icy gaze. Rachel gulped. "Are you ready to get thrashed?" Only after Leshia's face had burst into a big grin did Rachel relax and laugh manically.

"Oh you wish Malfoy. Move over." And so Rachel slid down onto the seat beside Leshia pulling out a deck of cards while Katie wormed her hand into Rodeo's seeking assurance that he still wanted to be with her. The warm smile he granted her was answer enough.

"Oh don't let Rachel deal, she'll cheat," Parys piped up happily as the redhead started to deal the cards.

"Don't make me curse you Parys, I've been told that with my technique I shouldn't even dare trying," Rachel countered happily eliciting laughter from the group of friends. Though their little scene of good relations didn't draw a crowd like the play fight Leshia had just enjoyed with Owen, it was far more momentous. The friends had gone to the very brink of friendship and bounced back; here in the bustling Gryffindor common room on the cold January afternoon life-long bonds were being forged; bonds which one day would stand the test of time itself.

XXX

Come Tuesday morning the youngsters found themselves lined up outside the muggle studies classroom chattering cheerfully about the upcoming weekend, which would see the Miss Hogwarts competition unfold. Leshia had since relented and allowed Katie to chatter about the event till her heart's content. Consequently every other conversation the girls found themselves in revolved around the beauty contest.

"I wonder if there will be some sort of dance to celebrate the competition," Katie mused aloud.

"If you had your way there would be a dance to celebrate every occasion big or small," Rodeo chuckled fondly.

"Oh I got an O in Runes," Leshia suddenly yelped excitedly. "Time to hold another dance."

"Leshia caught the snitch again, let's all throw a dance to celebrate," Rachel added happily.

"Hey I made it through history of magic without falling asleep once, now we need to hold a mega dance, perhaps even a ball!" Leshia laughed jubilantly, entirely getting carried away with hers and Rachel's joking.

"Oh give over," Katie laughed happily.

"You know I did actually manage to go a whole lesson of Professor Binns' drawling without falling asleep the other day," Rachel suddenly revealed happily.

"Did you?" Leshia asked sounding genuinely surprised. "I didn't. He had me snoring by his second paragraph…"

"Rachel! Rachel!" Everyone in the corridor turned curiously to see the least likely person sprinting down the corridor towards them all.

"Hermia?" Rachel stammered in surprise. Aside from the fact that she and Hermia, her younger sister, had barely spoken in the entire two years the younger girl had been at Hogwarts, never before had the girl seemed so in need of her older sister. "What's wrong?" Rachel inquired worriedly when finally her sister reached her side. Despite herself the older girl reached out and took hold of her younger sister's flailing hands.

"It's Emelia," Hermia panted witch wide eyes full of tears. "She's in a bad way Rach."

"What's happened?" Leshia demanded when her best friend seemed to have lost the power of speech.

"She was in Potions when she went to the toilet about twenty minutes ago," Hermia explained, stopping once more to get her breath back. "She never came back! She was found at the bottom of the great staircase all battered and bruised. They don't know if she's going to wake up." At this point the second year Slytherin who Rachel had always assumed had a heart of stone broke down into tears on her older sister's shoulder. Rachel turned an alarmed face on her best friend, who alone at this moment had not broken into whispers instead keeping a level head.

"Come on," Leshia ordered calmly. "Let's got to the hospital wing."

"Well what about Muggle Studies?" Katie complained meekly, earning herself a stern look from Leshia, who was already escorting Rachel and her weeping sister to the hospital wing.

"Katie come on," Leshia said forcefully. When they reached Emelia's side the girls soon found they weren't her first visitors. Indeed, two men stooped in a hushed conversation already stood at her side. Upon the entrance of the youngsters however, the men broke apart still expressing a look of such seriousness that Leshia felt instantly fearful. The situation must be extremely severe to warrant such expressions from her father and Albus Dumbledore.

"Emelia," Hermia wailed the moment she saw their younger sister battered and still unconscious from her attack. Rachel remained strong for her sisters and consoled Hermia while Katie back stepped until she reached the neighbouring bed. The sight of her young cousin so battered was too much for the raven-haired girl and quite suddenly she had felt her feet giving way. Leshia alone remained calm and looked coolly from her head teacher to her father. Draco jerked his head to the side indicating Leshia join him off toward the side of the infirmary.

"Is she going to be okay dad?" Leshia asked worriedly when she, Draco and Dumbledore had moved sufficiently away from the distraught family. Draco glanced momentarily to the stricken girl and winced at the sight of her.

"We don't know sweetheart," he replied honestly.

"What happened to her?" Leshia persisted.

"That is what we are trying to find out dear girl," Albus Dumbledore cut in gently, offering his friend's daughter a reassuring smile. "Perhaps you will do us the great service of remaining here to look after your friends. I do believe they will be impossible to tear away from poor Emelia's side and it would do me a great service to know they were in responsible hands." Leshia nodded fervently. "We must go and oversee a search of the school." Once more Leshia nodded, keeping to herself her worries that Dumbledore and her father evidently felt that whatever attacked Emelia may still be around. Sensing that for just a moment Draco wished to speak to his child in private Dumbledore ducked out of the conversation heading over to Hermia's unconscious form once more to check on her progress. Draco though held Leshia's gaze with a stern concern.

"You're not to get involved in this you understand?" he warned her seriously. Leshia neither nodded nor shook her head, instead adopting the same stubborn expression her father was wearing. "I know you feel you probably already are."

"What do you mean?" Draco grinded his teeth together for a moment regarding the fourteen-year-old with a look of slight pride.

"Don't get dragged into this Leshia. It's not your fight. Don't you think you've put your poor mother through enough already with the scrapes you've got yourself into?"

"Dad I don't know what you're talking about," the girl lied, feeling a little putout that Draco was sinking to such underhand tactics that he would try and use guilt to scare Leshia from delving any further into this sinister affair. Draco though seemed adamant that the girl should be no means become involved. Why?

"Just…" Draco paused and for the first time broke Leshia's gaze, looking away to Hermia's poor battered body. How many times had he had to witness Leshia's broken form in this very room? How many times was he going to have to fear for her life? "Just watch your back okay?"

"I always do," Leshia countered slightly petulantly. Draco snorted derisively and looked back to his daughter with a smirk.

"Just stay out of trouble okay?" He was staring towards the door where Albus Dumbledore was now waiting for him. Leshia nodded, silently adding,

'You too.' Only once the headmaster and her father had left the room did Leshia approach her friends.

"What did your dad say?" Rachel asked stonily, the shock of seeing her sister so horribly attacked morphing her usual cheery features cold and lifeless. For a moment Leshia considered telling them the truth, but what would they think of Draco's urgency for them not to get involved in the situation?

"He was just asking if we knew any reason why someone would want to attack Emelia," the girl lied easily. Without even a nod Rachel looked back to her little sister while at her side Hermia wailed on.

XXX

An entire day passed in which Rachel and Hermia were joined by both their parents in their vigil at Emelia's bedside before finally the first year girl opened her eyes to the world. Quick off the mark were Draco and Albus Dumbledore who descended in search of answers, but aside from the fact that Emelia said she was caught by surprise following a terrible stench there was little to explain what had happened to her. With hardly any information on what had unfolded Draco was chased from the room by a severely overprotective Ron. His claims that he was trying to protect the inhabitants of the castle fell on deaf ears and as such he had to stalk off muttering under his breath about a certain red-haired young man.

The run-up to the competition was entirely overshadowed by the dark mid-week events. Emelia's full recovery and return to Gryffindor tower on the eve of the tournament did however serve to reignite the buzz. Over dinner the congregated pupils of the school were told that the following day the nominees would be revealed to the school and that throughout the course of the day everyone would be able to go to the voting booths set up in the entrance hall to cast their vote.

By the time everyone was turning in for the night it would be safe to say that as far as Katie was concerned her personal excitement had reached fever pitch.

"Don't get too excited Katie," Leshia mumbled to the girl as they were drifting off to sleep. "Nothing spectacular is going to happen in the morning. It'll be just like any other day."

Wishful thinking would be an accurate way to describe Leshia's sentiments, as the following day when the jubilant shriek of Katie shunted everyone quite rudely out of their slumber, Leshia soon realised her words the night before had been in vein.

"Look at me! Look at it!" Katie was giggling wildly. "Oh isn't it so beautiful!"

"Oh Katie it's gorgeous. You look just like a princess," came the envious response of an excitable Ashley.

"A bloody loud princess," Rachel grumbled through the giggling. "Go back to bed!"

"Look Rachel look!" Katie countered however, moments later to be followed by an appreciative humph by a very tired Rachel.

"That is actually pretty cool. Show Leesh," the redhead urged, hoping her cousin would disappear from her bedside so she could pull the duvet over her head and seek out her slumber once more.

"I'm sleeping," Leshia called out grumpily, opening her eyes to a crack to peer into the gloom of her bed. Something was wrong. "What the…" she began croakily as she sat up to find the source of the mysterious sparkles filling her usually dim four-poster bed. Quite suddenly the curtains to her little abode were wrenched open. "Hey!" Leshia complained and threw her hands up to her poor eyes, which had been blinded by the bright morning sunshine.

"Oh," Katie stuttered. "You've got one too." The disappointment was so poignant in her tone that Leshia pulled her hands away from her eyes and squinted up at the raven-haired girl.

"What's that?" Leshia demanded with a sliver of fear. For atop Katie's head lay a sparkling tiara made solely out of glittering lights…exactly the sort of sparkling glittering lights that had moments ago filled her gloomy bed. "Oh no," the blonde girl managed and without a word to Katie she pushed her way past her and ran to the mirror beside the aforementioned girl's bed. "No!" the girl crowed sounding pained as her eyes fell on the matching sparkling tiara on her own head.

"What's wrong?" Rachel grumbled, poking her head through her curtains to see what all the fuss was about. Upon seeing her best friend rubbing furiously at her hair trying to disperse the glowing headwear she burst out laughing. "Oh Leesh! It really suits you!"

"It won't come off," Leshia complained feverishly. "Why won't it come off?"

"Well it's obvious isn't it?" Nicola now spoke up with the same envy Ashley had expressed. "You two are nominees for Miss Hogwarts. You're so lucky!" While Katie swooned and clutched her hands together in jubilations Leshia wheeled on Nicola and glared forcefully at the girl.

"Lucky?" she demanded. "Lucky! I'd gladly give it to you if I could just _get the bloody thing off_!" Leshia's friends were less than sympathetic and by the time they had all dressed they laughed wildly at Leshia's insistence that she was going to spend all day up in the dormitory. In the end Rachel personally frogmarched her down through the common room where the girls were met with a round of applause. No other Gryffindors had woken up to find the magical tiaras affixed to their hairlines and as such Leshia and Katie were the sole subjects of everyone's attention.

Whereas Katie remained behind a little to reel in her peers' compliments and praise Leshia darted from the room with a sniggering Rachel at her side. They managed to get down to breakfast without any mishaps and soon Leshia was handing her head over her dinner in a grim resignation that once more she had been dragged right into the centre of something she would much rather have had nothing to do with.

"I wonder if Katie rigged it," Rachel mused aloud earning her a wicked grin from Leshia.

"That's a little harsh Rach," the blonde girl countered, before adding, "I wonder who she bribed to do it for her." Rachel snorted happily and gulped greedily at her pumpkin juice. "Do you wish you had one?" the blonde girl continued frankly.

"Me?" Rachel choked on her drink and for a moment Leshia had to clap the girl firmly on the back to bring her round again. "Are you mad? I want nothing to do with it."

"Same," Leshia sighed miserably while she looked up across the room. Half a dozen other tiara-clad girls were swarming around with small followings; absolutely gorgeous girls who Leshia had never given a second thought but now felt incredibly threatened by. Upon Katie's arrival she brought news that there were ten contenders for the role, which would be announced at a special ceremony after dinner.

"That just leaves me one problem," Leshia muttered to Rachel under her breath when once more the conversation had grown to such a buzz that nobody was heeding her. "Where am I going to hide until this whole thing is over?"

XXX

Rather than reverting to her hide-in-the-library like tendencies Leshia decided she would just ignore the dratted tiara on her head. She was the only girl graced with one to behave so venomously against it and indeed all the others had taken to strutting about the castle trying to convert as many of their peers to their cause as they could. Katie enlisted Rodeo into helping her effectively leaving Leshia, Rachel and Parys lounging in the common room enjoying their Sunday. Well, enjoying it as much as they could with the terribly long Muggle Studies essay they had been set. The girls were picking Parys' brain on the matter as they had missed the lesson that would have been helpful to them due to Emelia's unfortunate accident.

"Oh this is ridiculous," Leshia suddenly exclaimed as she dropped her quill on their usual corner table and dropped her besparkled head into her arms. "I bet you that even muggles don't know why the transport network is suffering so many problems. Can't I just say 'because they're muggles and they're stupid' and then be done with it?" Parys chuckled at the girl.

"If it's any consolation you didn't miss much in the lesson," the boy conceded.

"Oh yeah? Was it so boring that it sent you all to sleep?" Rachel laughed.

"No he was like fifteen minutes late and then was really distracted the whole way through. Most of his sentences trailed off half way through. The guy had something on his mind I'll tell you that." Both Leshia and Rachel furrowed their brows in unison and glanced at one another. Parys barely noticed. "But that's nothing, he left half way through the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs lesson before ours and never came back."

"Parys didn't you think to mention this before?" Rachel finally spoke with a very un-Rachel like serious expression. The boy seemed instantly humbled by her change in persona.

"Um, no. Why?"

"Emelia got attacked around that time," Leshia replied for her friend in a distant tone, her eyes still off to the side while her mind whirred over this turn up for the books. Parys instantly recoiled at Leshia's words.

"No!" he exclaimed with a half smile, as though he felt the girls to be joking. When they're expressions didn't change he leant forward incredulously. "You can't be serious. Lewis is like the nicest guy I've ever met."

"Well then why did he disappear exactly at the same time my sister got attacked?"

"Rach I know you're upset about what happened to your sister and I can completely get why you think it's Lewis, but there could have been a million and one reasons for him to be acting that way. I mean look at Professor Malfoy, he's always off in some strange mood or other." Leshia suddenly wheeled on the boy in disbelief.

"What?" she managed catching Parys off guard, who had momentarily forgotten that Leshia was sat beside them.

"Sorry," he profusely apologised softening Leshia's expression until finally she nodded.

"You're right," she conceded. "My dad's always up to mysterious stuff that gets him all hot and bothered and distracted, but that doesn't make him the cause of all these problems and I'm sure it's the same with Professor Lewis." Rachel looked from one earnest face to the next before she finally nodded.

"You're right," she sighed, the twinkle returning to her eyes. "Can you imagine Lewis trying to sneak up on someone? You can bloody hear that man smiling from a mile off." Though she managed to return to the mirth of the situation Rachel remained a little dubious about Professor Lewis' actions. Never before had cheerful Rachel been the suspicious type, but after the destruction of her family through the turmoil her parents were going through any upset was magnified beyond all control and Emelia's attack had stirred within Rachel emotions she had never felt before.

Come lunch time and Leshia was forced to mingle through the Hogwarts' crowds once more coming across beaming friendly faces and the scowls of posse's attached to her competitors. One particularly nasty meeting occurred within sight of the voting booths when Leshia, Parys and Rachel came across Val Beckett sporting a sparkling tiara and her gaggle of supporters. The animosity between the two nominees was evident.

"Good luck Malfoy," Val offered extremely falsely, the mockery in her eyes making Leshia want to curse her with a plague of boils. With a false smile Leshia dodged round the Ravenclaws all set on going down for some lunch, which she might have done had Val not muttered terribly unsubtly, "You're going to need it."

"What did you say?" Leshia demanded icily, spinning on heal and glaring furiously at Owen's ex-girlfriend.

"You heard me." For a moment the two girls locked eyes in battle until out of nowhere a tall shadow fell over them.

"Suits you Malfoy, you should invest of one of these full time," Owen Gabriel spoke up, startling both girls into looking at him; Leshia in gleeful surprise and Val in fury. The boy was staring coldly at the girl he had enjoyed a brief stint with. He said not a word to his ex-girlfriend and instead wrapped an arm about Leshia's shoulders. "Come on shorty, you're going to want to see this. They've got a right little Leshia fan club going down Gryffindor table." Without a word of objection at the thought of such a ghastly activity Leshia allowed herself to be led away with Parys and Rachel jogging to catch up with them. At the door to the great hall Leshia looked over her shoulder to see Val hanging her head and muttering foul obscenities under her breath while her friends tried to console her.

Owen had not been wrong about the supporters gathering at the end of Gryffindor table – all lower year peers who had already idolised the girl beyond all measure. They happily explained to her as Owen pushed her into their midst (before abandoning her in a fit of laughter) that they had already voted for her and were expecting her to win hands down. Rachel and Parys had a wail of a time watching the girl suppress a scream of annoyance and hindered Leshia's mood further by joining in with the others.

Luckily Leshia was soon saved from her adoring fans by her proud mother who wanted to take a walk with the nominee. Just seconds away from taking her wand out to silence her followers Leshia jumped to her feet at the chance to get away from the Gryffindors and moments later she and Hermione were taking a turn round the corridors of the castle.

"I knew the moment they started talking about this contest that you would be picked," Hermione told her daughter fondly.

"Oh mum give over," Leshia groaned.

"Well I can't help it that you're beautiful," Hermione chuckled proudly.

"One more word and I swear I'll turn myself into a troll," Leshia warned fondly eliciting hearty laughter from her mother. The sound of Hermione's glee softened Leshia's mood instantly and for a moment the daughter beamed up at her mother. "You're really happy aren't you mum?" There was a slight pained sound to Leshia's tone, who had to admit she had forced the news of her soon to be baby brother or sister from her mind for fear of what she really felt on the matter. She felt guilty for wishing it away knowing her mother was so happy about the new arrival.

"Yes," Hermione sighed contentedly resting her head momentarily against Leshia's. "More happy than you can imagine little one." Nodding gloomily Leshia hung her head and stared at her shoes as they walked. "No one can ever replace you Leshia. You know that right?"

"Mum," the teenager groaned fondly. "Don't go all soppy on me."

"Well you started it," Hermione laughed and wiped at her eyes where tears had materialised at Leshia's sudden emotionality.

"Can I hide in your chambers until this whole sorry thing is over?" Leshia asked with large pleading eyes.

"Oh darling," her mother admonished fondly. "Why do you have to be such a stick in the mud? You should just enjoy it."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have one of these stuck to your blimming head," Leshia grumbled and once more she ruffled firmly at her hair to try and dislodge the magical tiara.

"I think it looks lovely," Hermione teased.

"Well if you can figure a way to pry it off my head then you can have it."

"Hey Malfoy!" Both Leshia and her mother turned around to see Owen Gabriel jogging towards them from down the corridor. Instinctively Leshia reached up to flatten her manic curls, which moments before she had dislodged in her fit at the tiara. Hermione noted her daughter's about-turn in mood and suppressed a broad soppy smile: her little girl certainly wasn't her little girl anymore.

Once he reached their side Owen's eyes darted to the tiara atop Leshia's head and for a moment he smirked in mirth.

"Not a word," Leshia warned him amusedly.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Good afternoon Professor Granger," the boy now wheeled on Leshia's mother and cast her such a dashing smile that for a moment the young woman was a little taken a back. Since when had this fifteen-year-old become so charming? She could still remember the boy from the term she taught in his second year when he had been all gangly arms and legs and had not strayed further from the safety of his friends. How he had changed!

"Good afternoon Mr Gabriel," the mother finally returned serenely.

"Would you mind terribly if I borrowed Leshia?" the boy was continuing.

"Oh be my guest," Hermione replied happily and after grinning to both daughter and her friend Hermione bowed out of the conversation and headed up the corridor. Over her shoulder she could just about hear Owen explaining to her daughter that their captain had called a meeting to discuss emergency training before the match against Ravenclaw the following weekend.

The young woman was beaming and it was clear for all to see. Not one of her pupils passed her without managing to cast her a warm smile. Even the moody Slytherins cheered up at the sight of the glowing mother. By the time Hermione reached her quarters she was so content she felt she was hovering several inches above the ground.

"What's the matter with you?" came the amused inquiry from her husband the moment she glided in. Draco was lying stretched out on one of the settees with half a dozen exceedingly long essay scrolls nestled around him and the one he was currently marking uncoiled down the whole length of his body.

"Oh I'm just in a gloriously good mood," Hermione replied happily, veritably floating over to where her husband lay to kiss him lovingly.

"Any particular reason for this gloriously good mood?" the young man asked cheerfully once Hermione had breezed past him to flop down in the armchair at his side.

"I just had a chat with Leshia, she seemed to be opening up more about this little one." Draco raised an eyebrow.

"She did?"

"Only a little," Hermione quickly added. "But you should have seen her darling, for one moment she just seemed so happy about the whole thing." Draco smiled fondly at his wife and held his tongue. Personally he felt the whole situation was going to get a lot worse before Leshia would be able to welcome a new sibling into their lives, but he daren't be such a naysayer in front of his wife.

"So what is the little heathen up to today then?" Draco asked amusedly.

"Draco!" Hermione laughed. "Don't call our daughter a heathen! She's not having a terribly good day actually."

"Why?" In an instant the playfulness from Draco's face was gone making way for a stern look of protectiveness.

"She's one of the nominees Draco," Hermione laughed. For a moment the blonde man furrowed his brow in confusion. What was Hermione going on about? Having not stepped outside the chambers yet after deciding he wanted to have a lazy Sunday he hadn't yet been swept up into the excitement of the contest.

"Oh you're kidding," he finally chuckled. "I'll bet she's loving that. I hope she realises its all your fault."

"And what do you mean by that?" Hermione countered adopting a feigned snooty tone.

"Oh don't play innocent. She's the way she is because you're the way you are." Here he waved her up and down with a pointed finger. Hermione giggled despite her bemused act. "So the next time I see her I'll let her know she can come crying to you about the whole thing."

"Like you had nothing to do with it," his wife laughed. "To look at that girl is all you and you know it."

"Don't be absurd," Draco countered. "Why didn't she come back with you anyway? It would have been fun to tease her about the contest."

"Draco," Hermione laughed. "You shouldn't wind her up about it, she's already threatened to turn herself into a troll…"

"That'll be the day." Glazing over her husband's joking remark Hermione continued,

"That Owen Gabriel boy came and dragged her away." For the second time Draco's face fell instantly, only this time he quite promptly sat up scattering the scrolls that had been resting on him about the room.

"He what? Why?" Hermione's mirth remained and after fondly smiling at her husband she explained.

"Surprise quidditch meeting. Honestly darling what do you have against the boy? I hate to say this, but one of these days Leshia is going to pick one of them and between you and me I hope it's him." Draco scowled half-heartedly at his wife.

"That's exactly what I have against him. How is it that within the space of a term and a half he's completely swept Leshia of her feet and now you as well? I don't trust him."

"He's a charming young man," his wife countered fondly.

"A little too charming if you ask me," Draco grumbled, climbing to his feet so as he could pace the room. "I mean since when has it been socially acceptable for a fourth year to get so attached to a third year? Back in our day he never would have got away with it, people would make fun of him till he stopped."

"Yes but Leshia isn't just any ordinary third year is she?" Draco looked once more to his wife mid-pace with a pointed expression.

"Again, all your fault!" Hermione laughed heartily.

"Draco I know that after everything you're very overprotective of our daughter, but please, she's only young once and if we raise her with too firm a hand then she's going to hate us for it eventually."

"Too firm a hand?" Draco exclaimed wildly, a big grin on his face. "That one? Have we really been too firm on her? We let her get away with blue murder!" Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly Draco approached his wife and sat down on the edge of her chair, leaning out to place his large hand over her growing bump. "With this one we're going to do things right."

"Draco," Hermione admonished. "We've done nothing wrong with Leshia."

"I have," Draco sighed. "I won't make the same mistakes again." With a wounded expression Hermione leant against her husband, not wanting to challenge him. She understood him to be talking about the years when she had been absent…the years Leshia had been ignored. The then little girl had tried everything she could think of to catch some of her father's attention resulting in a lot of wild behaviour that had only worsened over the years.

"Come on," Hermione suddenly exclaimed loudly. "On your feet. We're not going to feel sorry for ourselves on Valentine's Day." Carefully the glowing mother clambered to her feet and started pulling on Draco's arm.

"Where are we going?" the young man asked amusedly.

"We're going to go and visit Hagrid. He invited us round for tea over a week ago and we still haven't gone. I feel dreadful!" Draco feigned a disgruntled expression.

"Agh, Hagrid's?" he grumbled. "I thought you said you _didn't_ want me to feel sorry for myself?"

"If you do this one thing for me then I might return the favour," Hermione suggested seductively. Draco's response was instant and within seconds he was on his feet dragging his giggling wife towards the door by her hand.

"Off to Hagrid's it is."

XXX

The impromptu quidditch meeting lasted longer than it ought to have and by the end of it everyone was very pent up from the heated debate over the correct strategy to take on the Ravenclaw team. After the draw with Slytherin it was imperative that they win with a high score to ensure that should it come down to goal difference then Gryffindor would come out on top. As such Leshia was very explicitly told to hold off on catching the snitch until they had reached at least a hundred-point lead. When she had objected asking how on earth she was meant to stop the Ravenclaw seeker from catching the snitch she had quite bluntly been told to 'use her imagination'.

The result of the heated discussion meant that every night that week was going to host an intense training session. The debate had also ensured that most of the team members scattered from each other as soon as Mila called it to an end due to their frustrations with one another. It wasn't a very promising start to the rigorous week of training to come.

Leshia alone found herself storming out of the common room with Owen in tow, both questioning Mila's tactics and the logic of exhausting themselves during the week before the big game. Being overly competitive both wanted very much to win, but deeper down there was also the fact that this was the first time they would be facing Val since all the upset the term before. Leshia wanted more than anything to see the smug girl taken down a notch of ten.

"Where's the logic in risking everything to stop the Ravenclaws from catching the snitch?" Leshia complained. "I can't guarantee that I'll be able to stop Lahara from catching the damn thing."

"What are you talking about?" Owen countered. "Of course you'll be able to stop him, but you shouldn't have to. It's not fair for Mila to dump more on your plate. You should be focusing on catching the snitch, end of story. I know that it might eventually possibly maybe come down to the goal difference, but I don't think we should change our game because of something that might never happen."

"Where are we actually going?" Leshia piped up when her friend had finished his rant. Unwittingly they had wandered down to the entrance hall where vast amounts of pupils were milling about outside the voting booths. The sight of them all made Leshia feel sick to her stomach.

"You know," Owen remarked happily. "I haven't voted yet, have you?" Leshia spun on him with her arms crossed. "What?"

"Are you serious? I want nothing to do with any of it. The whole thing is ridiculous." Quite unsympathetically Owen started cracking up, having to bend over double to contain himself. The sight of the girl being so adamant about her indifference to such a contest when atop her head sat a sparkling tiara was far too much for the boy. "Owen!"

"I'm sorry," he managed through his laughter. "You're just too much Malfoy."

"Yeah, well so are you," Leshia grumbled and she started to back away down the corridor again.

"Wait, please don't go!" Owen called after her and quite promptly he straightened up again grinning apologetically at the girl. "It's just you're so not like every other girl I've ever met. You can bet that any of them would be so incredibly chuffed to be one of only ten girls nominated as the fittest girls in the school, but you… I just don't get it." He seemed genuinely perplexed and for a moment all mirth had left his charming face.

"What's so hard to understand?" Leshia tried miserably. "I'm always there, right in the middle of things I want nothing to do with. And this contest…" The girl trailed off hugging her arms to her front. "Well it's stupid. There are so many pretty girls in this school and the only reason I'm wearing one of these idiotic things," Here she took a moment to swipe at the sparkles adorning her head. "Is because people remember my name from all the countless dramas I've been dragged into." Owen shook his head with a small smile.

"Leshia, Leshia, Leshia," he sighed. "You're quite some piece of work you know that?"

"You can't talk," the girl snorted in an incredibly unladylike way.

"I think you'll find that I can. See? I'm doing it right now," Owen chuckled, eliciting laughter from the cheered up girl. "Anyway, I wasn't kidding. I really am off to vote, so if you don't want to have anything to do with the contest then you'd better not come with me." Without needing to be told twice Leshia turned on heal and headed back down the corridor they had come from leaving Owen shaking his head fondly while he watched her sparkling tiara disappear into the crowds. There wasn't a doubt in his mind about where his vote lay.

XXX

Dinnertime was far too comical for words, as without fail all but one of the nominees paraded themselves round like show ponies. In a last grab for votes and a sheer display of their tiaras before they would undoubtedly disappear from their heads the girls went from table to table greeting acquaintances they hadn't spoken to in years. Even Katie was sucked into the nonsense and rushed off to mingle with their Ravenclaw friends somewhere after the first course not to return until well after desert to woo the Gryffindors she had left behind.

Predictably whenever a nominee swept past Leshia and her loyal friends to woo several of her house mates they cast her extremely contemptuous looks. After the second or third such attack Parys and Rachel took to glaring back and sticking out their tongues resulting in a lot of laughter down the end of the table. Their support and antics left Leshia reeling with joy and quite surprisingly to the girl she enjoyed that dinner terribly.

After everyone's plates had disappeared from the table all eyes started to instinctively turn to the front of the hall where not only had the plates disappeared from the scene, but also the teacher's table and chairs. They had moved to some comfortable armchairs arranged a little off to the side while centre stage a very extravagant and beautiful crystal tiara had appeared on a purple velvety platform surrounded by three very elaborate bouquets. Its sudden appearance spurned the whole hall into excited chatter and as such when the two organisers of the event Eva Westwood and Tara Peters took to the stage they were met with a tumultuous applause and more than a few catcalls. It did not escape anyone's attention that the beautiful Eva Westwood was donning a sparkling nominee tiara herself.

"Good evening Hogwarts!" the two girls called out to their receptive audience, their wands pointing to their throats no doubt to magically enhance their already shrill voices.

"I hope you're all having a fantastic Valentine's Day!" Once more the student body responded in applause.

"Let's start off by saying that we're so impressed by the turnout for our little contest," Tara Peters spoke next.

"Almost everybody turned out at the voting booths today resulting in a very close result," Eva Westwood took over.

"So without further ado, let's welcome all our nominees to the stage! From Ravenclaw, Miss Valerie Beckett! Come on Valerie, come and join us," Tara Peters now called out. Across the room hands flapping Valerie was climbing to her feet amidst the praise of all those around her and the chorus of applause from the rest of the school. The girl's fan base were shrieking uncontrollably.

"I'm not going up there," Leshia uttered sounding shell shocked.

"From Slytherin Miss Meja Olsen!" Eva Westwood was continuing up on stage, eliciting a similar performance to erupt on the other end of the great hall. Leshia's heart had started pounding uncontrollably.

"Leesh you have to," Rachel told her best friend concernedly. "Just grit your teeth, force a smile and get up there. You'll be fine."

"I'm not going up there!" Leshia repeated more urgently.

"From Gryffindor…" Leshia's terror spiked. "Miss Katherine Potter!" The table around her break into roars of approval as Katie magnanimously climbed to her feet. Rachel stopped momentarily consoling Leshia to cheer her cousin on. Even Leshia managed to briefly shake herself from her misery to cheer the girl on. This had meant so much to Katie; she didn't want to spoil it for her.

"From Slytherin let's welcome Miss Maia Drakovic to the stage!" Leshia looked once more to the furthest table in the hall and froze once more, only this time her pause was in anger. Julius Black was watching her with as intense a look of amusement as his mysterious face could manage. Wanting very much to scream in frustration Leshia glared furiously at the boy before she looked up at the stage so as to pull herself from his gaze. Amidst the beautiful tiara-clad girls Katie looked very much in her element as they jostled each other excitedly and whispered together about how nervous they were. Never before had she seemed so very silly either, Leshia thought to herself.

With her heart pounding as though in her mouth Leshia watched as the glamorous sisters Gillian, Vera and Sarah Littlewood and Evie Drakovic joined the young ladies on stage. A ray of hope shone in Leshia's heart when it looked as though the two presenters on stage seemed set on moving on. Perhaps her tiara had been a horrid mistake and she wasn't a nominee after all?

"And finally…" Leshia's heart sunk as all eyes fell on her. Across the room Hermione was lifting out of her armchair with a beaming smile to seek out the only sparkling tiara left in the crowds. At her side Draco was shaking his head with a large grin; oh how Leshia would be fuming right now. "From Gryffindor Miss Alecia Malfoy, won't you join us on stage?"

"No," a sound escaped Leshia's throat, but wasn't heard by a soul as Gryffindor table and many many others in the hall burst into cheers of approval. She received one of the most favourable greetings out of the lot, which served only to terrify Leshia even more.

"On your feet Leesh," Parys crowed in her ear before he stood up and lifted the girl to her feet. Despite her feet trying to turn her in the opposite direction and run, Leshia found herself cajoled towards the platform she most wanted to hide from. She seemed to impossibly small stood beside the tall and striking nominees the contest had turned out and for the umpteenth time that day poor Leshia felt so very out of place. She had no business competing with such young ladies. Give her a broom and a quidditch match over a sparkling tiara any day.

Sat in their seats amidst their colleagues Hermione and Draco linked their hands together, sharing a fond look of pride. Though being nominated for such a contest was not something Draco would normally rank as one of his daughter's more prestigious achievements he couldn't help but feel a stab of satisfaction at seeing her outshine so many beautiful young women. The girl was her mother's daughter there was no doubting that. There was just something about her that drew you in, and even though she was left inched away from her competitors at the edge of the stage most of the hall's residents were watching her intently.

"First of all, let's give all of our beautiful nominees a huge round of applause! Don't they look just divine?" Tara Peters shouted out to the audience who did just that with such strength Leshia had to fight the urge to cover her ears. Down the row Katie was in her element smiling so broadly she could barely see. Her heart may have been pounding, but this was exactly what Katie Potter had been craving since she arrived at Hogwarts and she was determined to savour every second of it.

"In just a few moments I am going to reveal who you voted as the three most lovely ladies stood here on stage," Tara Peters was now continuing, hushing the cheers and catcalls instantly. "Though only one lucky lady can be crowned Miss Hogwarts the two girls lovely enough to be crowned second and third place will be honoured with a voucher each to spend at Madam Silvergrace's boutique on Diagon Alley." Evidently such a prize was worthy of envious chatter from the more fashion conscious ladies in the audience, but as far as Leshia was concerned Tara could have just announced she was going to be giving away vouchers to a flesh-eating-slug-repellent specialist.

"So, without any further ado, let's find out who our three winners are!" From thin air Tara Peters conjured a very extravagant and garish sparkling gold envelope while the audience went absolutely berserk in their noise making. For a few moments Leshia was entirely sure she was about to pass out from frustration. What a farce, the whole thing!

It seemed to take a painfully slow age for the Slytherin presenter to open her theatrical envelope bearing the fate of the ten girls stood in a line on the stage. Whereas all but one were forcing their white toothy grins to beam with joy, Leshia couldn't mask her annoyance at the whole thing and remained stony while she stared at Tara Peters resentfully, willing her to speed up.

"The three ladies who will be competing for Miss Hogwarts this year are…" Tara finally spoke before she paused for the impatient crowd to start chanting for the names of the three short-listed nominees. The effect her stalling had on the line of beaming ladies was to make several of them quiver in anticipation and nerves.

"Read them out!" one impatient young man yelled from the crowds.

"Vera Littlewood!" Tara finally yelled out eliciting ear-pounding applause to fill the room. Over on the Hufflepuff table Vera's fan base were screaming themselves hoarse with appreciation, as the evidently stunning girl stepped forward at Tara Peters' beckoning.

"Meja Olsen!" the presenter added and once more a similar spectacle unfolded in the audience only more localised around the Slytherin table. Stood in line the final eight nominees all looked to one another with frightened expressions. Did they have what it took to make it into the final three?

Unwittingly Leshia caught Katie's eye, who was staring at her with such a wounded fawn expression that Leshia felt more protective of her friend than ever. Why did this horrid event have to do this to Katie? Why did the girl need such recognition of the beauty she already knew she possessed?

"The last nominee to make it into the final three is…" Tara paused cruelly, looking the contenders up and down until finally her eyes paused on the one, "Alecia Malfoy!"

Leshia's ears started ringing while Gryffindor table burst into a unanimous roar of approval. The blonde girl's heart broke when Katie's eyes, which she had not yet turned away from, creased in pain and disappointment. Once more Leshia had beaten her…once more she was going to have to struggle in the tiny girl's overpowering shadow. As though the world had slowed down Leshia held Katie's gaze until her lifelong friend turned away from her. With a constricted chest Leshia followed in her competitors' wake to stand at the forefront of the stage in plain view of the ghastly and garish tiara that would seal one of their fates.

Gone was the pride on Hermione's face.

"Katie's heartbroken," the concerned mother uttered to her husband.

"As is Leshia," Draco replied darkly, seeing the empathy in his daughter that she had not inherited from him.

"Oh," Hermione sighed sadly. "They didn't need yet _another_ thing to come between them." Draco comforted her by squeezing her hand tightly in his, and even though he hadn't followed the ins and outs of Leshia and Katie's rivalry he too felt this contest was the last thing their fragile friendship needed.

"Well ladies," Tara Peters was now speaking again, looking the three finalists up and down. "Tell us how you're feeling." With the wand once pressed to her neck now pushed up against Meja's Leshia actually took a step back when the Slytherin fifth year started speaking.

"Very excited Tara!" the girl expressed happily, eliciting cheers from her home house along the edge of the hall.

'Oh do not tell me they expect me to say something,' Leshia thought to herself furiously, but oh yes, Tara had now moved her wand on to Vera Littlewood's neck, who confessed to feeling,

"A little bit nervous, but extremely proud!" Had she wanted to run before this was nothing to how Leshia felt when that sinister wand was pushed surprisingly firmly into her neck.

"And our youngest finalist, how are you feeling Leshia?" Tara inquired firmly. The girl gulped and looked from the fifth and sixth year girls she was supposedly competing with to the school now watching her exclusively. This was all just too much.

"You really don't want to know how I'm feeling right now," she finally spoke in a steely tone eliciting hearty laughter from those who also felt this whole spectacle was a complete idiotic waste of time.

"Well said Malfoy!" a call that sounded suspiciously as though it had come from Owen Gabriel sounded from the Gryffindor table. Tara Peters narrowed her eyes slightly at the ungrateful girl who didn't feel the honour of being voted one of the three most beautiful girls in the school when she was only in third year herself.

"Right then," the presenter finally spoke and she turned the wand back on herself. "Onto the moment we've all been waiting for, the results!" With the hint from one of the finalists themselves that this whole thing had been going on far too long now Tara took no time in announcing the final order of things.

"In third place with thirty one votes Meja Olsen!" The hall burst into applause while the grim faced Meja stepped forward to receive the bouquet Tara was handing her. While she received her voucher for the boutique and uttered an exceedingly quick acceptance speech to the crowds Leshia and Vera Littlewood turned to stare at one another. Just how Leshia had made it this far was beyond either of them, but both were wishing more fervently than ever that the next name to be read out would be that of the third year Gryffindor. The hall had fallen deathly silent before Meja Olsen had even finished her speech and now all eyes were on the presenter, waiting to find out the fate of the two girls left staring at one another.

"In second place and runner up for Miss Hogwarts is…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End of part X 

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!!!!

Still a little shorter than normal, but I wanted to end on a cliff hanger and this one was doozy :) Plus I wanted to deliver on New Years day as a little 'start as you mean to go on' thing. Hope you all enjoy (PS I'd love t hear your opinions on who's going to win)

Review, review, review


	11. Part Eleven

**Generations: the Blue Lions**

**Part XI**

Leshia lay in bed staring at the velvety swathes of her four-poster canopy mulling over the evening's events. The look Katie had cast her when it became evident that as usual Leshia was surpassing her would not leave the poor girl's mind. Why was fate striving so to tear the pair of them apart? It was almost as though fundamental forces were acting to prevent a Malfoy from ever being close friends with a Potter. Perhaps their fathers' legacy now repaired was going to live through them till they turned in turn eighteen. Or perhaps they would never truly be able to call each other a friend and ally.

Her mood was macabre, and though the common room had been in full celebration mode Leshia had snuck away without having to answer to too many people and well-wishers. Though it was only nine-o clock she had retired for the night, lying now curled up in her overly large pyjamas long having given up on doing the Potions homework she had attempted to complete.

"Leshia, are you awake?" Rachel had come to find her, and though she considered feigning sleep and avoiding having to go over it all with her best friend Leshia knew she was no coward.

"No," she replied ensuring that seconds later the cheery face of Rachel Weasley poked through the curtains of her bed.

"Are you done sulking yet?" the happy girl asked while she clambered onto Leshia's bed and shut the curtains behind herself.

"I'm not sulking," Leshia laughed.

"Well that's what everyone's saying downstairs," Rachel jeered.

"They are not!"

"Yep! Everyone's saying that you've come up here to sulk because you lost." Unsure of whether Rachel was winding her up or not Leshia sat up straight in bed.

"You had better be joking," the blonde girl warned amusedly. After a few moments in which Leshia feared her reputation to be in tatters Rachel finally laughed gleefully.

"Nah! Nobody thinks you're a sore loser. We're all happy you didn't win, how sad would it be to be crowned Miss Hogwarts?" Leshia rolled her eyes and grinned much relieved before she dropped down into her cushions once more.

"Tell me about it, that's what I've been saying all along."

"I'm still trying to get my head round that Vera Littlewood's speech," Rachel crowed jubilantly and then suddenly in a very good impression of the girl she clasped one hand to her chest and the other palm outwards to her forehead, "I'd like to thank everybody who voted for me! My mum for always pushing me to be the best. My wonderful boyfriend and all my friends…" Here Rachel paused and sniffed dramatically cracking Leshia up in complete and utter joy. "I won't let you down Hogwarts! I will…"

"Oh stop it," Leshia giggled happily before she flung her pillow at Rachel to silence her re-enactment of a scene that had already had Leshia silently laughing so hard the tears had welled up in her eyes.

"And the way she carried on, trying to make you feel better that you didn't win. It was such a joke!"

"Don't remind me," Leshia chuckled.

"As if three votes difference was that big a deal anyway," Rachel grumbled amusedly.

"Oh don't say that, it sends shivers down my spine," Leshia complained. "To think I came so close to being the biggest laughing stock this school ever saw." The girls lulled into silence while Leshia couldn't help but feel enlightened from her sombre mood. Exactly why she was sulking she didn't really know, as this night ought to be a grand celebration: she had lost!

"Do they still have all those Butterbeers downstairs?" the girl finally piped up earning herself a huge grin from her best friend.

"You'd better hurry, last I saw Tom and Luke were hovering around the crates and you know what they're like when they get going," Rachel warned. After briefly changing back into her clothes Leshia followed Rachel down to the common room, talking about why it seemed that whenever something was in need of celebrating they always seemed to get hold of a never ending supply of Butterbeer.

Once they reached the mezzanine level where the two staircases met and Leshia could see the view over her jubilant housemates she rushed up to the low wall that stood there holding out her arms triumphantly.

"Hey everyone! I lost!" she yelled out over the common room soon joined by the cheers of everyone down below, who welcomed Leshia into their party with open arms. The girl had barely taken two steps before she was thrust a bottle of Butterbeer and practically airlifted towards the nearest comfy settee.

Mockery of Vera Littlewood's mortifying acceptance speech was evidently on the agenda and all about the room Leshia could hear snippets of her cringe-worthy statements. People especially seemed to enjoy reliving the moment where Vera had attempted to console a supposedly heart broken Leshia for not winning the title.

Leshia and Rachel's appearance soon drew their friends in from the crowds and before too long they were all sat together on the settee and the surrounding rug. Katie was very pale and very silent, but this was the extent of her negativity. When she did speak she was entirely pleasant and on the surface it seemed she was trying to put the whole thing behind them. Of course she knew that none of this was Leshia's doing, but deep down she couldn't help but feel stung by the whole silly thing.

Rodeo had tried to console her by explaining that Leshia got votes due to her name being known by everyone in the school. He had tried to explain that in his eyes Katie was far more beautiful. Though his story was a pure fabrication – he didn't know whether Leshia's popularity had swayed the results and in truth felt rather cruel for suggesting it – Katie drank it in and found it to be a consolation to her tattered self-esteem.

"I'm just happy that bloody tiara has disappeared," Leshia found herself saying loudly, rubbing protectively at her now sparkle-free hairline.

"I thought it suited you," Parys piped up cheerfully. "It really brought out the fury in your eyes." Leshia grinned at the boy.

"How long do you think Vera is going to wear hers for?" Rodeo put the group with an amused grin.

"Until it disintegrates," Rachel replied with a roll of her eyes. "I hope she's being ripped to pieces in that Slytherin common room. You wouldn't think the snakes would go in for something like this would you?"

"Are you kidding?" Leshia laughed. "The way I'm hated over there I bet they've raised a little throne for her and are all doing her bidding."

"Hey that's true," Parys agreed. "I mean she beat _Leesh_, she's probably being hailed as 'Queen Vera the slayer of pesky Gryffindor third years' as we speak."

"I'm not pesky," Leshia complained jokingly. "That makes it sound as though I flap around them nibbling at their ankles or something." For a moment her friends reeled with laughter at the girl's silly notion, as each and every one of them pictured her be-winged and miniscule taking a good bite out of Damian Allseyer's pale hairy ankle.

"You're such a weirdo Malfoy," Rodeo laughed happily.

"So what are you going to do with your voucher?" Katie asked civilly, though her eyes seemed greener than usual with envy.

"Well I'll give it to you of course."

"What?"

"As if I would know what on earth to buy in Madam What's-its-face's boutique. What the heck is a boutique anyway?"

"It's a French word for small shop," Katie quickly replied. "Are you serious? Leesh that stuff is designer, you don't want to just give it away." For a moment Leshia shook her head, smiling warmly at her childhood friend.

"I do, trust me." In a flurry of motion Katie dived up from the rug to hug Leshia with such force that she nearly toppled off the settee. After this the raven-haired girl was not to be pulled from her good mood and she even joined in when people sang a round of "well she's a jolly good loser" in honour of Leshia's defeat at which point she jumped atop the coffee table and conducted the loud and boisterous affair.

Towards the end of the night when everyone started drifting up to bed Leshia suddenly found herself surrounded by the fourth year boys, who managed to jump onto the settee behind her and shove her friends onto the rug.

"Hey!" Rachel laughed when she found herself suddenly on the floor.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Rodeo demanded, much less amused than the redhead had been. Leshia glared at him firmly to stop him from acting up with Owen once more. Was she always going to have to get between them as long as she was friends with both? If so that would be awfully tiring!

"Oh lighten up Holsson," Owen's friend Paul subdued the boy.

"We've made you something Malfoy," Owen now spoke and from behind his back he pulled out the gaudiest thing Leshia had ever seen. It was a rosette twice the size of even an inappropriately sized rosette in bright pinks and gold bearing a large animated drawing of Leshia finding out she had lost and bursting into tears, which then turned into a large burning 2nd Place logo.

"Oh you're kidding," Leshia laughed out loud while Owen pinned the awful thing to her jumper to a chorus of laughter from everybody in the vicinity.

"Wait wait, there's more," the boy managed through his laughter and he leaned in towards the rosette. "Vera Littlewood." Instantly in an overly loud voice the terrible girl's acceptance speech was broadcast from the rosette affixed to Leshia's jumper. The whole common room roared with cheers and laughter while Leshia playfully shoved at Owen with both hands.

"Owen! I am _not_ wearing this." The girl started pulling at the badge on her jumper, but within no time several hands had lunged forward and stopped hers.

"You have to," the boy countered. "We made it especially for you." Leshia forced the colour from her cheeks and pulled her hands away from the badge obediently. Seeing the usually stubborn girl turn so submissive in the face of the attractive older boy made Rodeo's skin crawl and without excusing himself he dragged himself up from the floor and stalked off. Only Katie really noticed him go, as the others were all too wrapped up in the amusing rosette's antics and in turn Leshia's mortified responses.

"I'll expect to see you wearing that tomorrow Malfoy," Owen piped up cheerfully as he and his mates found their feet, ready to go up to bed.

"Fat chance," Leshia chortled back, quickly shooting the dashing boy her most charming smile to sooth the look of feigned hurt that had materialised on his face. "I mean, of course, I'll never take it off as long as I live."

"Glad to hear it," Owen replied cheerfully. "Don't forget Malfoy, we've got a date with Snape after class tomorrow." Leshia rolled her eyes grimly in remembrance; in all honesty, the weekend's mortifying excitement had rather erased that memory from her mind.

"Don't remind me," she grumbled eliciting a large grin from the boy.

"Well I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with you too Malfoy."

"Owen I didn't mean it like that," Leshia complained with a beaming smile. "It's nothing to do with you it's just Snape! He once made me test all these potions when their labels had fallen off in one of his detentions." Owen seemed a little incredulous.

"Last time I had him it was just lines," the tall boy replied simply. "Old man like that? He'll be a piece of cake. Anyway, we're off to bed, see you losers in the morning." After the boys had disappeared up the stairs Rachel turned a satisfied little smile on the gathered friends.

"They're so charming."

XXX

Needless to say, the following morning Leshia did not keep to her word: there was not a rosette in sight over breakfast and though the fourth year boys were some way up the table, Leshia had already received joking disapproving looks from them. The world seemed a much brighter place now that the threat of the competition was no longer hanging over Leshia's head.

Indeed, a reminder that the queen had been named was clear for all to see, as there, sat pride of place at the head of the Slytherin table was the lady herself. The tiara had not left her head since it had been placed there by the hosts of the tournament and it was very obvious that she was simply adoring her fifteen minutes of fame. After deciding that the girl was so pitiful there ought to be a whole ward of St Mongos dedicated solely to her condition, Katie and Leshia had both agreed the whole tournament was the biggest joke that had happened since they went to Hogwarts and luckily their battered friendship didn't seem to be suffering too badly for it.

Monday's lesson line up was always an easy start to the week, with the only truly challenging part of the day arriving after lunch. One and a half hours of Defence Against the Dark Arts was one and a half hours too many for most of the third year class and as such the mood was rather subdued as Leshia and her friends ambled towards their queuing classmates outside the classroom.

"Afternoon blood traitor," the piercing voice of Damian Allseyer forced its way into Leshia's happy afternoon. The boy had been unusually subdued as of late and as such Leshia was quite surprised to be suddenly confronted by his broken-record of a greeting. Behind him his posse of half-witted cronies were massing, offering strength in a no doubt pre-arranged campaign against Leshia. Only Julius Black hung back, leaning against the wall looking at his feet, his face a combination of remorse and frustration.

'What does he know?' Leshia momentarily thought to herself.

"So how does it feel?" Damian was continuing in his bored drawl dragging Leshia's attention reluctantly back onto himself.

"I know you're going to tell me anyway, as you've obviously been rehearsing this little speech with your cronies all day, but just to speed things along," Leshia responded with her jaw cocked out a little in arrogance. "What are you bleeding going on about Allseyer?"

"Well now that you've been reminded for the umpteenth time about your inferiority to a Slytherin, how does it feel?"

"Is that all you can come up with?" Leshia replied with one raised eyebrow. "Honestly Allseyer are the glory days really over?" The boy before her seemed not a jot concerned by the girl's jeering of him, a definite turn up for the books. Damian Allseyer could dish it out with the best of them, but had never truly got the hang of being on the receiving end of an insult. His serene response now therefore came as a little bit of a surprise.

"Glory days blood traitor?" Allseyer questioned curiously. Along the corridor Julius Black looked up with narrowed eyes, his eyes betraying his concern. Leshia faltered, caught in his gaze for a few moments, before she managed to turn her confused eyes back on the rat stood before her.

"Back in the day I would say something witty, you would retort with something clever, I would bring up your incompetent cronies and you would mention something about my mother, you know the drill. So, um, what happened? You've not been yourself all year." A cruel smile spread across Allseyer's face.

"I had no idea you cared for my wellbeing blood traitor, that's sort of tragic." The Slytherins cackled mercilessly.

"Oh I'm sorry, did you think I was concerned?" Leshia countered quickly. "I just feel that if this little thing we've got going on is going to continue, then you might want to make a bit of effort. Hey do you want me to start scripting?" A twitch crossed Allseyer's face, which he soon covered up with a cruel smile.

"Any effort on you would be totally wasted, but not to worry. You won't be my concern much longer." Turning away from the Gryffindors the Slytherins remained deadly silent and exchanged a knowing look that unnerved Leshia no end. They were up to something. Only Julius Black held Leshia's eye, before he ever so slightly shook his head.

"Hey what did you mean by that?" Leshia demanded despite herself, but an answer never came. The long loping strides of their teacher on his way sparked the chain reaction of the students jumping back against the wall and checking the status of their shirts. By the time Draco reached them the youngsters, in their well-rehearsed regime, had made themselves presentable enough to gain access into the room.

"Afternoon," the young man greeted his class, noting with some annoyance that Leshia and Damian Allseyer had locked their tempestuous gazes on one another in battle. Couldn't the girl go a week without butting heads with that boy in battle? "I would like you all to silently deposit your belongings in the classroom, pick up the pad and pencil on your desk and then make your way out into the corridor again as quickly as you can. We've got a lot to get through and not enough time to do it."

It took an immense amount of restraint for the youngsters to refrain from bursting into curious whispers while they left their bags inside, picked up the notebooks and made their way out again. Draco had in the past pulled out some spectacularly fun lessons, but knowing his dichotic nature, none of the youngsters dared to think they were in for a treat. This lesson had just as much potential to turn into a one and a half hour library stint.

Leshia and her friends were first out, and even known Leshia knew she would be breaking the no talking rule she had to know,

"What are we doing?" she whispered to her father as she Rachel and Katie lined up beside him. With no response the fond yet firm look Draco cast the girl silenced her and she waited obediently with the rest of the class until the last dawdlers had fallen into line. Without a word to the class Draco turned on heal and led the class as a mother hen would lead her chicks through the corridors and out into the grounds. Turning towards the dark forest most of the youngsters turned on their friends with eyes wide with jubilant anticipation, which soon turned to worry when Draco led them on through the forest, not stopping at the tree line. Where were they going?

"Um sir?" Katie finally spoke up.

"Yes Miss Potter?" Draco replied, not calling the group to a halt, merely leading them on over fallen tree trunks and forest debris.

"Are we going to be going much further into the forest?"

"Are you worried Miss Potter?" Katie darted a smug Leshia and Rachel a defensive look in response to their teasing grins.

"Um no sir, I'm just, well, we're going quite far into the woods aren't we?"

"Have no fear class, I know how to get back," Draco chuckled. For five further minutes he led them on in silence, until finally he stopped without warning, causing a pile up of youngsters behind him as one by one they stumbled into one another.

"What's that?" Rodeo spoke up; his gaze roving over the ugly smelly pond Draco had led them to.

"That, Mr Holsson, is bad news," Draco replied, slowly turning round to look at his curious class. "I'm sure you'll all be happy to know that we've finally finished our lessons on Grindylows." A subdued 'yes' went along the line of students, who had been rather bored of the tame beasties that had taken up the last month of Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to move on to their cousins." Where a moment before had been relief, a look of grim misery swept over the faces of their third years.

"Don't tell me we're going to find them in there?" Leshia spoke up with a look of disgust. Draco smiled at his daughter and took a step closer to the repugnant pond, crouching down at its turbulent little shores.

"Samian Greyfins," the teacher finally announced and as one the group of youngsters stumbled backwards.

"Dad get back," Leshia stammered without thinking. It was a sign of how terrified the class were that not one of them cracked even a little giggle at Leshia's slip up. Draco however, chuckled in amusement and lifted up a long stick, toying with it in his hands.

"And why is that Miss Malfoy?"

"Well Samian Greyfins are one of the most dangerous creatures known to man," the girl stated bravely, edging closer to her father, wanting very much to pull him back by the scruff of his neck. "Aren't…aren't they?"

"Indeed they are, supposedly," Draco replied, looking across the pond edge to a pile of unattractive looking grubs feasting themselves on a decomposing dock leaf.

"Well um, shouldn't you like…you know, stand back a little?" Leshia continued, taking yet another step towards her father.

"Why is that?"

"Well I've heard they can devour the flesh off a human in ten seconds flat. They can smell a person from a hundred yards away and use complex pack strategies to lure their prey into the water."

"Five points to Gryffindor," Draco said cheerfully. "But all of it is entirely incorrect of course." For a moment Leshia's fear was surpassed by indignant disdain.

"What?" Without a word to his daughter, or the cowering class behind him Draco reached out his stick and poked it remorselessly onto the grubs one by one, loading them on as though he were loading a sate stick.

"Professor that's gross," Leshia alone spoke up in disgust.

"We need bait," her father replied.

"For what?" As though the lesson had devolved into a one-to-one session between father and daughter Leshia cautiously knelt down beside her father pushing herself against him still a little rigid with fear. Behind them the class did not budge.

Samian Greyfins were not creatures they had any inclination to mess with. Their childhood nightmares and ghost stories had not revolved around the creatures for nothing. So exactly what their insane teacher was doing crouched inches away from a Samian Greyfin lair was none of their concern, and not an activity they would be joining him in.

With a small reassuring smile at the only student brave enough to stay at his side Draco held the stick out into the water. Within that very second the stick was wrenched from Draco's hand in a blur of whirling water.

"Leshia get back!" Rodeo called out, but Leshia had already clung onto her father's arm, thoughts of her reputation entirely flying out the window in the face of such horrific demonic creatures.

"I can assure you Mr Holsson, your friend is quite safe with me," Draco called back, his tone quite steely, offended that the boy considered him an inappropriate guardian of his own child. "There is no need to panic class," Draco next informed the youngsters, glancing over his shoulder to see the nineteen other youngsters had backed away so much they were barely in hearing range. Several of the Slytherins had disappeared from view, the large trees surrounding the little pond keeping their quivering forms well hidden. "I can assure you that you are quite safe."

"Are you sure?" Leshia whispered dolefully, looking up at her father with concern in her large eyes.

"You're always safe with me," he replied so as the others couldn't hear. "They respond to the state of your thoughts," Draco continued to the class, continuing with his lesson. "If you all approach just a little closer, then I would like you to see first hand that fear is your greatest enemy." The class didn't budge, eliciting hearty laughter from the young man. "If they should somehow grow feet and clamber out you can be assured in the time it will take them to devour Miss Malfoy and I you would be given ample time to escape."

After taking a deep gulp Rachel broke the mould and stepped forward a few timid paces. In her wake the Gryffindors quickly followed joined by Julius Black alone of the Slytherins.

"Fear is a powerful emotion," Draco continued now his audience had approached to within a respectable distance. "If you let it consume you, then you lay yourself at the mercy of anyone or anything who would wish to harm you. In truth, it is your greatest advisory and once you have beaten it, the world truly is your oyster." Quite suddenly and without warning Draco plunged his bare forearm into the pond.

"Dad!" Leshia cried out while her friends screamed behind them, stumbling back once more. Where before the water had frothed in rage now it merely lay stagnant. Indeed, not a ripple lapped up against Draco's arm.

"How are you doing that?" Parys finally spoke up.

"Mind over matter," the teacher simply responded. "Years ago I learned to control every aspect of my mind including when I allow myself to feel afraid." With this Draco pulled his arm out of the water leaving it in the same stagnant state it had been in when he plunged his arm into it. "Control is your most powerful ally and in difficult times you would do well to remember this. Every situation can be turned in your favour, every demon or monster can be tamed by unwavering fearlessness."

Edging ever closer the class had never seemed so awed or impressed. Draco Malfoy was the most insane man they had ever come across, but in this moment every single one of them was in awe of him. At his side Leshia was staring at the water, her heart racing, after glancing briefly at her father she reached out her hand to the water, only to have it snatched away by her father a serious look crossing his face, his eyes wide with worry that defied his claim of fearlessness.

"No," he ordered firmly. "You're too young, you don't yet have the control."

"But…"

"None of you have," Draco called to the class.

"It's a fake!" Allseyer finally piped up, the momentary awe dissipating in unpleasant disgust. "This is all just a big hoax." Tightening his jaw Draco finally straightened up and faced off with the sharp-faced Slytherin king.

"Oh you believe so?" the tall intimidating man challenged darkly. "I welcome you to call my bluff if you'd like?" Allseyer twitched a little while his cronies turned to him expecting him to do it, but they were greatly disappointed when the boy shook his head quickly.

"Not likely, who knows what you've got in there," the boy grumbled.

"Mr Allseyer unless you would like to join me after class then I would keep quiet and start listening carefully," Draco snapped sharply at the petulant boy. "Now if you'd all like to take a seat, we'll start the lesson." With the threat of detention hanging over them the youngsters quickly obeyed while Draco turned to look over his shoulder to see Leshia still crouched by the edge staring at the water with a thoughtfully look on his face. "Miss Malfoy will you please join the group? The practical element of the lesson is over now."

Leshia nodded to herself and slowly climbed to her feet staring into her father's eyes with an unreadable look. Why did her father keep surprising her? Why was he so fearless? Was that made him so capable of betraying those close to him? Did he have any emotions at all? Or could he sweep them all aside with his immense mental control?

The children found it very difficult to concentrate in their lesson, in which they were instructed to sketch the natural habitat of the Samian Greyfins. Every time they were able to settle into concentration however, an unsuspecting bird or insect would fly to close to the pond and another spectacle would unfold in which the poor creature met its very frothy end.

"Your dad is insane," Rachel whispered to Leshia as they trudged back at the end of their lesson. Leshia nodded grimly, feeling very much shaken by the whole afternoon.

"Sometimes…sometimes he scares me," she whispered, her eyes narrowing in hurt as she spoke the words. Rachel smiled and wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders.

"My dad scared me over Christmas," the redhead confessed seriously, causing Leshia to turn and stare at her curiously. "Yeah, he was wearing my mum's old apron with a pink duster in his hand trying to attack the silverware." Leshia snorted despite herself. "Honestly, it was terrifying. Pink is definitely not his colour." Her mood a little repaired Leshia and her friends made their way up to the castle where all their peers were already milling around.

"Oh no, detention!" Leshia suddenly blurted out before she looked to her friends desperately. "Will you lot get my things?"

"Of course, now go before Snape skins you alive," Katie laughed. Leshia barely heard her though as she had already sprinted up to the head of the class where Draco was still leading the way.

"Professor can I be excused? I've got detention with Professor Snape," the girl panted. Draco furrowed his brow in reprove.

"Really?" he asked warningly.

"Sir!"

"Yes fine, go," Draco finally gave his permission and Leshia didn't wait a moment longer. The last he saw of his daughter was her blonde head bobbing down the stairs to the dungeons. Were he about to lead the class back the young man suddenly changed tack and headed across the entrance hall to where his wife was watching them all in slight surprise.

"Class, we'll adjourn here for the day, homework for Wednesday; three feet documenting every horror story you've ever heard about Samian Greyfins. I don't want you to consult a book, just write it off the top of your heads." The class didn't need excusing twice and darted down the corridor the moment Draco turned his back on them. He was at his wife's side within moments.

"Afternoon," he greeted her charmingly, wrapping his arm about her neck and kissing the side of her head.

"What have you been up to?" Hermione asked him suspiciously.

"Introducing my class to the Samian Greyfins Hagrid's been tending in the forest," Draco replied simply, leading his pregnant wife back to their chambers.

"Oh you never!" Hermione complained seeming suddenly severe. "Is that why they seemed so shaken? You didn't do the arm thing did you?" Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Draco! You shoved your arm into a pond full of Samian Greyfins in front of your fourteen-year-old daughter? You probably traumatised her half to death!"

"Yes she did seem rather alarmed," Draco replied cheerfully. "But she stayed by my side, the others all darted for cover as though the bleeding things were about to ravish the lot of them. She's a brave little thing that one."

"Darling you put her in a terrible position, she was probably too terrified to leave your side."

"But I was in no danger, you know how they work, they don't attack if you're not afraid," Draco countered simply.

"That," Hermione said firmly, but a smile pulled at her mouth. "Is an unproven theory. I can't believe how reckless you were to test it out on your own arm again."

"It's not unproven anymore," Draco countered happily and he lifted up his arm. "Look, proof." Wanting very much to continue the debate, but knowing her husband wasn't going to budge on his stance Hermione quickly changed the subject.

"Speaking of Leshia, where was she running off to in such a hurry?"

"Detention with Severus."

"What?" Hermione seemed shocked. "Surely he would have told you by now, doesn't he always tell you when he gives her detention?"

"Yes, which leads me to think either she's done something so terrible that she's mortified him and he doesn't want to talk about it, or, he knows something in his favour and he doesn't want to share yet."

"You know," Hermione said wearily, not sure how her husband was going to react to her news. "I just had my fourth year class and Owen Gabriel was rushing off for a detention with Severus as well." Her revelation instantly brought her husband to a halt who stared ahead with narrowed eyes.

"Gabriel," he finally uttered.

"Darling don't take it out on him," Hermione soothed. "Perhaps Severus likes to call in all his detentions on the same day."

"Or perhaps he caught them doing something they shouldn't have been doing," Draco growled. "That would explain why he didn't tell me, he's trying to drag it out until he's got something to hit me with."

"Darling he's your friend," Hermione countered.

"I think you're forgetting what sort of a friend Severus really is."

"Well it's all irrelevant anyway, because I would know if our daughter had had her first kiss." Draco shuddered involuntary at such a notion spoken aloud and briefly tightened his arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Enough, no more," he finally managed and reached out with his other hand and stroked Hermione's small bump adoringly, seeking solace in the fact that his second child was so far from puberty it was still safely in its mother's womb. "So how are you two today?"

"Absolutely wonderful," Hermione sighed with heavenly contentment. "This little one is so much easier to deal with than Leshia ever was."

"Are you sure it's not my presence?" Draco asked charmingly, mesmerised by his unborn baby, wanting so much to meet the little person inside. "Maybe Leshia knew I wasn't around and was acting up in defiance."

"That could explain a lot," Hermione giggled.

"What, her tantrums started prenatally and all that?"

"Something like that."

"Wouldn't surprise me, maybe we shouldn't introduce them to each other until we've morphed this new one into a perfectly well behaved child." Hermione laughed out loud earning her surprised glances from the pupils around them. "I'm serious, Leshia would be able to learn something from it."

"You're terrible," Hermione chuckled adoringly and wrapped her arms around her husband as they made their way back to their chambers where they curled up together on the settee and enjoyed their umpteenth argument about names. Their argument lasted well into the night.

XXX

Leshia came skidding to a halt outside of Severus Snape's office where she briefly got her breath back before she banged on the door tiredly.

"Enter!" Snape's bellow followed and even though she wanted to turn and run Leshia rolled her eyes and pushed against the door heavily. Inside Owen was sat at on the ground in the corner buried under scrolls and bottles of potion. Leshia offered him a cringing smile, which he returned dashingly.

"You're late," Snape carefully hissed.

"I know, I'm sorry, but my dad was taking his lesson out in the forest and we were late getting back and…"

"Oh spare me Malfoy and go and join Mr Gabriel. I will be back shortly." Not daring to believe that Snape wouldn't be breathing down their necks while they carried out their detention Leshia quickly obeyed and dropped down beside her friend. Without another word Snape marched out leaving the door ajar behind himself.

"So what are we doing?" Leshia asked curiously.

"Taking an inventory…or something like that," Owen replied happily, lifting up three bottles and a long list with a bewildered look on his face. Leshia sniggered and shook her head, lifting up another list and a bottle. "What were you doing in the forest?" Owen asked next curiously.

"My dad was sticking his arm into a pond full of Samian Greyfins," Leshia replied drolly eliciting hearty laughter from her companion, who promptly stopped when she turned her serious slate eyes on him.

"My God you're serious! Is he okay?" Owen asked in shock.

"Yes, not a scratch on him in fact, but I just don't get it," she sighed. "He said that if you control your fear then nothing can harm you."

"Do you think the whole thing was a fake? You know, just to scare your class?" Leshia shook her head.

"Even though he says he doesn't get afraid, he seemed pretty worried when I wanted to stick my hand in."

"You what?" Owen nearly choked. "You were going to stick your hand in to a pond full of Greyfins? You're as mad as he is!" Leshia shot him a stern look. "No I'm serious, you've got to be careful Leesh, your dad's like crazy brave. I don't think I've ever met anyone so terrifying or so fearless in all my life and you can't do everything he can, so you shouldn't try."

"Who's side are you on?" Leshia countered.

"I'm always on your side shorty, always," Owen expressed passionately, seemingly very shaken by his friend's revelation of her careless behaviour. "But you make me so scared. I don't think I've ever met anyone who makes me feel as scared as you do."

"But I'm not scary," Leshia tried sounding a little hurt. The thought that she terrified Owen was just somehow revolting to her. To think she could hurt him in any way made her cringe with disgust.

"But that's just it. I'm not scared of you, I'm scared _for _you," Owen explained with eyes creased in concern. Leshia leaned in to him despite herself, wanting to ease the pain evident in his face knowing it was all her doing. How could she hurt someone so important to her just by being herself?

"You don't have to be afraid Owen, nothing's going to happen."

"Well it is if you go putting your life in danger at the slightest whim."

"It was not a whim!" Leshia countered hotly.

"You're not your dad Malfoy, I know you're like him in so many ways, but you're not him and you shouldn't try to be. Enjoy who you are, we do."

"Where's all this coming from?" Leshia demanded, feeling now affronted by Owen's words. Owen rubbed the back of his neck anxiously and shook his head.

"Nowhere, it's nothing, just ignored me," the boy complained tetchily and he turned his attention back on the list in his hand.

"Owen don't be like that," Leshia complained. "Tell me!"

"Oh you really want to know?" Owen suddenly exploded passionately making Leshia pull away again. "How can you not understand Leesh? How can you not have picked up on it already?" Leshia's eyes widened in shock, suddenly understanding what Owen was about to say and entirely sure she didn't want to hear it. "I really _like_ you Leshia, I have since the moment I met you."

For a moment the pair locked their eyes together, Leshia's chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to digest this new information. Had Owen just told her he liked her? In _that _way?

"I…" Leshia began barely louder than a whisper, but thankfully her sentence was cut off by the reappearance of Severus Snape face buried in a book.

"Why aren't you two working?" he growled at the youngsters who quickly got back to the task at hand, not even catching one an other's gaze while they worked. Only Snape stole furtive glances at the teenagers, wondering at all that had transpired and how he was going to use all this new information he had learned to his advantage.

Leshia and Owen managed to put the words that had gone between them aside for the time being as they wandered up to dinner in the great hall after their long and arduous detention. Though he hid it very well Leshia knew she had hurt her friend's feelings by not immediately returning his sentiments, but how could she? She didn't know how she felt about Owen. She didn't know how she felt about anyone anymore.

XXX

Leshia kept Owen's words from her friends and didn't mention what had happened in their detention together, though they could tell she was hiding something. As far as Owen was concerned, the awkward moment had never happened, or at least so he acted. In lieu of the upcoming quidditch match against Ravenclaw Mila was training her all-star team to their limits and as such Leshia and Owen were spending an unnaturally large amount of time together.

Mila's plan to stall for time in order to score lots of goals was still a point of contention amongst the team, with a roughly fifty fifty split on what their action plan ought to be. Leshia, Owen and the beaters Luke and Tom Weasley were all very much against the idea, while their team of chasers, overly confidant in their own scoring abilities, were adamant they could pull it off.

The argument was so heated it was still going strong as the team sat down for breakfast together on Saturday morning, dressed for their battle in the rain. Leshia kept quiet, allowing her friends and team mates to battle it out amongst themselves. Her mind was solely on the beautiful girl sat at the Ravenclaw table donned in their blue coloured robes: Valerie Becket. Leshia cringed despite herself and wondered what it would be like to lose to the talented chaser. They had not met in battle since their spat over Owen and more recently, since their Valentines Day exchange of frosty sentiments.

'She can't beat me!' Leshia hissed to herself, her eyes narrowing in contempt.

"So Malfoy it's all up to you then!" Leshia spun around and noticed everyone in the team was looking to her expectantly, their flushed faces set in determination that the girl respond in their favour.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you're the one who's going to have to hold off Lahara _and _catch the snitch when it's time, so what do you think? Can you handle it?" Mila asked the little seeker. Owen narrowed his eyes at the older girl, wanting to berate her for posing the question in such a way that Leshia couldn't refuse. Alecia Malfoy admitting she wasn't brave enough for something? Hell would sooner freeze over.

"Of course I can handle it," Leshia quickly complained. 'I just don't think it's such a good idea,' the girl added silently in her mind.

"Good then, it's settled. You keep Lahara from catching the snitch and wait for my signal okay?" With a stony expression Leshia nodded, avoiding the pointed look Owen was shooting in her direction. Never before had the Gryffindor team been so divided right before a match. It could not bode well.

On their way up to the pitch Owen fell into step beside the young seeker and stared down at her with a furrowed brow of concern.

"Don't start Owen, I'm this close to throwing in the towel and staging a protest!" Leshia grumbled.

"For the most self assured girl I know, you do have a nasty habit of letting people boss you around Malfoy," he admonished.

"Yeah well you're not helping," Leshia countered frostily. "I won't have anyone telling me I'm a wuss."

"That's not what Mila was saying."

"Yeah she was and you know it," the girl sighed. "And she's right too. This is important for the team. I would be a coward if I refused to try it." Owen seethed silently for a moment, cursing their captain for making Leshia doubt herself before a game. "Don't worry Owen, I won't let Lahara get to it before I do." The little glint in the girl's smile reassured the keeper for the briefest of moments before they joined the rest of their team waiting in the wings ready to parade onto the pitch.

Despite the bickering they had waged on each other the team seemed to come together in these final few minutes to forge an inspiring team talk that left each of them itching to get onto the pitch to take on their most challenging rivals in this tournament. When the time came the barrage of sound that welcomed the teams as they walked out onto the pitch sent their adrenalin levels shooting through the roof. After they had lined up and shook hands with one another – Leshia and Val rather harder than was called for – the two teams took to the skies to await Madam Hooch's whistle.

The moment the shrill sound was lost on the rainy winds Leshia shot straight at Lahara, unnerving the boy so much he shot up into a steep ascent. Relentless Leshia tailed him, following him every which way he dodged briefly enjoying the horrified look on his face when he realised the girl was not letting him be. Of course the Ravenclaws knew what tactic the Gryffindors were going to adopt – they knew a long drawn out game with a larger goal difference would favour the Lion's House, converse to their goal in seeking a quick win, having already beaten Hufflepuff goal difference was irrelevant to them in comparison with the win – but Lahara had not been prepared for the small Gryffindor to chase him to within an inch of his life.

"And again Leshia Malfoy dives into a cruel pursuit of the Ravenclaw seeker Martin Lahara. Juts what she must be thinking is anyone's guess, but at this rate it's going to be a case of who can outfly the other the longest? It's stamina that's going to win this battle folks!"

Down below in the field of play the Gryffindor chasers were proving their worth by pulling ahead of the Ravenclaws by 60 points. Oh yes, Val tried her very best to motivate her team into retaliating, and she personally came very close several times, but Owen was a factor she could not control. Playing against an international level keeper was far from fair, but those were the cards that had been dealt, no use whinging about it.

The audience let out a roar of surprise when suddenly mid chase, both Leshia and Lahara dropped into a dive. They had seen the flash of gold at the same time as one another and though Lahara's only wish was to catch it in his gloved hand and end this pitiful farce, Leshia needed to stall for time. She was faster, dropping vertically to the ground with frightening velocity, while in her wake Lahara tried to keep up at a more shallow incline. He had not the sheer stupidity to throw himself headlong into the ground, no matter how highly he held his esteemed flying skills.

Momentarily the furiously battling chasers paused to see the two seekers bearing down on them. Val had to act quickly.

"Foul!" the commentator shouted out hoarsely as all around the stands the pupils of Hogwarts burst into noise – the Ravenclaws and Slytherin in hoots of triumph and the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs in roars of disapproval. Val's accidental on purpose lunge had nearly toppled Leshia from her broom. Indeed, as they watched, the young seeker was frantically scrambling to regain control of her racing broom before she and it became a messy mush of splinters and body bits on the fast-approaching and very solid looking ground. Ahead of her Lahara had pulled out, his mind only on catching the snitch now darting clearly ahead of them.

"Leshia!" Owen called out from his position, flying out a little better get a view of the treacherous position his dear friend found herself in. Val pounced on his weakness, but Owen didn't care as the ball flew past his ears through the hoop. What was 10 points against the possible obliteration of the first girl he'd ever really cared about.

"Madam Hooch must do something to regain control of this match," the commentator was now crowing in an irritated fashion. Though he was meant to be impartial, none could hide the fact that the Hufflepuff boy Jake Thomas was a blatant Gryffindor fan in this particular match. "After a blatant foul by Valerie Beckett of Ravenclaw young Leshia Malfoy is tumbling to her demise and yet in the midst of all this the questionable referee is allowing the Ravenclaws to score goal after goal. What are we up in? _Five_ goals? Ladies and gentlemen the score stands at sixty to fifty in favour of the more honourable team…"

"Mr Thomas!" Had the situation been less critical then the audience might have laughed at Professor McGonagall's admonishing of the biased commentator, but as Leshia was near squishing point and Lahara almost on top of the snitch there was very little to smile about.

Leshia alone out of all those present was keeping a level head. Yes, she could see the ground fast approaching, and yes out of the corner of her eye she could also see that her advisory was nearly upon the snitch, but deep down the girl knew she could turn this nightmarish scenario to her advantage.

With all the power she could muster the girl forced herself onto her out-of-control-broom, pulling at it with all her might so that it might lift up out of her plummeting dive. If she got the timing just right she could pull it off. If she kept a level head and tried to forget about the frighteningly quick growing landmass ahead of her, then she would become a hero to her team and her house. Leshia Malfoy was not one to resist being a hero.

"Wait a second!" Jake Thomas' surprised and breathy exclamation jolted the terrified audience into peeking out from behind the hands they had thrown up in front of their eyes. "It's Leshia, she's preparing to… oh my God, I don't believe it, she's not going to die!"

Down on the pitch, only inches from the ground Leshia pulled up, using such a tremendous amount of strength that she shot herself spiralling back into the sky. Tightening her jaw so that she didn't deposit her breakfast all over the field the girl kept her watering eyes on her target, the floundering Ravenclaw seeker, until she was nearly upon him. Barely in control the girl just about dodged around her startled advisory, blocking his path from the snitch and hitting against it with such force it was sent flying skyward.

"Malfoy's blocked Lahara!" Jake Thomas bellowed to a tumultuous roar of sound. "This game isn't over yet!"

Coming to a halt mid air Leshia finally stopped the world from spinning and allowed herself the briefest moment to lean over her broom, her mouth tightly clenched and her head spinning. The slightest disturbance to her equilibrium and she was sure she was going to vomit.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Martin Lahara's angry call came urging Leshia to open her eyes and face him. "Chasing me all over the pitch. You're mad you are! A cheating lousy psycho woman, that's what you are!" For a moment Leshia felt a little sparkle of happiness; the boy was very spooked. How many times was Leshia going to defy death while simultaneously inventing some fantastic new quidditch move? Honestly, something just wasn't right about that Malfoy girl. It was as though she were the luckiest creature alive.

"Not scared are you Lahara?" Leshia jibed cheerfully.

"I just hate cheaters," the boy countered furiously, making Leshia's face turn very stony once more. Without warning she flung herself in his direction, eliciting from the boy a very clumsy and comical getaway that had the crowds roaring with laughter. Their chase continued.

It continued for a long time.

Two hours passed, in which the score line soared in number. Gryffindor were now ahead by three hundred points and in all honesty, all the players were absolutely exhausted.

'Just give me a sign,' Leshia thought to herself desperately as she watched Mila score yet another goal. It was worth letting Lahara get the snitch just so that she could go and curl up in bed Leshia though miserably. They were so far into the lead it didn't matter anymore anyway.

The snitch fluttered into the field of play once more, dragging the two tired seekers into a half-hearted chase. It was as though the little ball were getting tired itself, as it seemed to be making it rather easy for the two players. Had Leshia not purposefully been trying to shield it from Martin Lahara then this game would have been over many moons ago with even an incompetent set of seekers.

"Now Leshia!" For a moment the blonde girl looked up. Was she imagining things? But no, there floated Mila waving her arms at Leshia frantically. "Now! Catch it!"

"With pleasure," the blonde girl grumbled plunging forward with renewed vigour. The exhausted Martin Lahara stood not a chance and watched in misery as Leshia easily plucked the snitch from the air, right in front of Val. In an impressive display of airborne agility Leshia suddenly stopped in front of the dark haired harpie who had tried to upend her. The two girls exchanged hateful glares while all around them the Gryffindors roared their approval.

"That wasn't the smartest thing you've ever done," Leshia finally spoke.

"No," Val agreed, almost spitting with rage. "I shouldn't have missed." The score clear between them Leshia shook her head indicating that now was not the time or the place, before she dropped down to the ground and hopped off her broom. Big mistake: the moment her feet touched the ground the entire world lurched to the right.

"Hey shorty, watch yourself," Owen's voice came from nowhere and before the girl could drop to the floor he was suddenly at her side supporting her.

"I'm so dizzy."

"Yeah, you're knackered, that's why," Owen chuckled, his previous terror being buried by the jubilation of their victory. Leshia smiled tiredly and nodded, cringing when she saw the hoard of supporters massing towards them across the field.

"Owen, get me past that lot to the common room and I'll never not listen to you again," the girl pleaded tiredly, eliciting a broad grin from her friend.

"Never not listen to me again? Well that's an offer I can't refuse." And so the boy kept to his word, disappointing dozens of fans in sweeping Leshia into the crook of his arm and dragging her forcefully along ignoring even their closest of friends. Katie and Rachel too were shoved aside, but rather than accepting Leshia was too tired for praise, they simply tagged along, chattering incessantly at their friend about her death-defying stunts.

Moment away from the portrait of the fat lady though two people appeared that Owen would never dare push away from his young friend.

"Leshia!" Hermione gushed sounding almost panic struck. Within seconds the girl had been plucked from Owen's arms and into her mother's.

"Mum, I'm fine, I'm just shattered," Leshia grumbled fondly while Hermione doted on her. "Dad make her leave me alone." Draco though was locking his pale eyes onto Owen, who with immense amounts of bravery and sheer stupidity forced a dashing smile onto his face and met the murderous man's eyes.

"Where were you two going in such a hurry?" Draco asked icily.

"I made Owen a deal," Leshia replied simply finally freeing herself from her mother's arms.

"Oh really? And what was his end of the bargain?" Her father now turned his eyes on Leshia, staring at her with a much softer expression: never before had he been so proud of her athletic prowess as he had been earlier that day.

"To get me back to the common room without having to answer to anyone. I just want to go to bed," Leshia groaned tiredly, instantly stifling a yawn at the mention of the word 'bed'. Draco raised one eyebrow.

"And what was yours?" Leshia grinned and went a little red in the cheek.

"Nothing important," she replied softly. "Dad can we talk about this tomorrow over dinner, I'm exhausted." Draco grinded his teeth together and nodded to the girl, reaching out a hand to briefly pull her into a firm embrace.

"You did good trouble, showed those cheating no-good…"

"Draco," Hermione admonished gently – he couldn't exactly go bad mouthing the pupils could he?

"Well you taught them a lesson whatever you want to call them," Draco chuckled fondly, kissing the top of Leshia's sodden head firmly. After releasing the girl the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher next turned on his daughter's companion. "Mr Gabriel, a word?" Both Hermione and Leshia's eyes went wide, before they simultaneously exclaimed,

"Draco!"

"Dad!"

"Of course," Owen interrupted them, briskly walking to catch up with the teacher, who had already started walking away. Leshia and Hermione watched them go with severely concerned expressions on their faces, which they soon turned on each other ominously. No good could come of this.

XXXXXXXXXXX

End of Part XI

Sorry it's a shorty, and sorry it's taken so long, but honestly, I never knew work could take up this much time. Have no fear though, this series will get finished! I'm going back to uni!!!!!!!!!!! Quitting in August, so let's hope I can at least finish this installation before then. Not too many chapters to go, it will start to pick up again, don't worry

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR DEDICATED REVIEWS AND FORUM POSTS! You guys rock!


	12. Part Twelve

**Generations: the Blue Lions**

**Part XII**

Owen focused on the corridor ahead as he and the dangerously dichotic Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher walked further and further from the concerned crowd gathered outside the portrait of the Fat Lady. Very much at the forefront of his mind was the story Leshia had only just revealed to him about Professor Malfoy's antics out in the dark forest. Any man who would willingly stick his arm into almost certain demise was not a man to be trifled with. Almost certainly a fearless creature, Owen realised his bravado was only going to carry him so far with Leshia's father. He was going to have to choose his words exceedingly carefully.

"My daughter is fourteen." Owen looked up in surprise at the words the professor had just spoken. How was he meant to respond? With caution would be the advised course of action the young man decided.

"Yes sir I know." Wanting very much to add that he himself was only fifteen, Owen held his tongue. No words followed and after studying the steely features of the teacher beside him Owen looked back to the corridor once more feeling his confidence slipping. He couldn't help it, but every urban legend he had ever heard about Draco Malfoy were jostling for his attention. Was it true he had once frightened a known follower of Voldemort to death? Had he really killed his own mother in cold blood? Were the whispers true? Had he really been born without a soul?

Silence consumed the pair as Draco led Owen on a certainly premeditated route; where it was leading was unclear as of yet, though very much at the forefront of Owen's worry. Where was the dichotic overprotective father taking him? Possibly he was going to feed him to the Samian Greyfins to test the true extent of his theory. After all, the terrified boy, no matter how well he was hiding it, couldn't have differed more from the fearless stoical teacher who had shoved his arm into their midst.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?" Draco suddenly demanded in the most clichéd line he could have delivered. The dangerous growl in his tone made Owen's skin crawl and he quickly shook his head.

"Professor Leshia is a really good friend, that's all there is to it," the boy lied, masking his feelings for fear of what Draco would do to him if he found out he liked Leshia in _that_ way.

"So then you admit you're leading her on?" Draco barked, pausing momentarily to face the boy with twitching left eyebrow. Owen's strategy was evidently backfiring.

"No sir! I would never!"

"So how can you attest to wanting to be her friend while at the same time treating her as far more than mere friends? Do you find it funny to toy with her emotions when she's still too young to fully know what to do with them?" Owen shook his head quickly, losing some of his bravado in the face of the murderous glint in Draco's eyes.

"No sir!" After inhaling sharply Draco stalked up the corridor once more with the extremely reluctant fourth year boy trailing in his wake. Not another word was spoken until the reached a large portrait of a bride and groom. Here Draco stopped and reached out to touch the painting. Despite himself Owen started backing away nervously. It seemed they had reached their destination. The painting swung forth at Draco's beckoning and revealed a large door that the teacher pushed open forcefully.

"In," he told the boy brusquely and when Owen seemed no closer to going into the Lion's Den Draco stepped forward a pace. This served to intimidate the young man before him into darting inside the dark entrance way and soon he found himself in the homely Malfoy quarters. Had Professor Malfoy truly brought him to his home? What could be his plan the boy wondered. After glancing about nervously, Owen jumped a little when the door behind them slammed and Draco paced into the room. He made straight for a corner cabinet where he lifted two tumblers from a shelf and a large aged bottle of orange liquid. Owen's father was a gin and tonic sort of man and consequently the youngster was not so accustomed to the strong stuff. He gulped when Draco placed the two glasses down on the coffee table and started unscrewing the bottle in his hands.

"Sit down won't you?" he offered with an icy glare. Owen felt he would far rather stand, much easier for a quick getaway should the situation demand it, but Draco seemed in no mood for arguing the matter so with a resigned sigh the young man sat down on the settee Draco had indicated. After pouring two generous portions Draco dropped down on the end of the coffee table and lifted a glass into his hands. For a moment he stared at it before he looked up into Owen's worried eyes.

"Please," the teacher said hoarsely, nodding towards the second glass and after a moment's hesitation Owen reached for it. Draco took a large swig of his own drink and knowing he would soon be under scrutiny to do the same Owen took his first ever sip of whiskey. The sharp taste brought a wince to his face and after he had convinced himself to swallow he made a face that showed his age. Despite himself Draco chuckled briefly.

"Your first taste of the stuff?"

"Yes sir," Owen managed sounding slightly high-pitched. Draco regarded the young man with eyes narrowed in thought before he visibly relaxed and brought his feet up onto the edge of the settee, resting his elbows on his casually spread knees. He appeared too young to have a daughter Leshia's age Owen thought to himself, not knowing his own youth was now under scrutiny. He could not know he had just passed the first of Draco's tests. The way he had shown his years in his response to Draco's hardened drink had pleased the father; here before him sat but a boy after all and he felt no longer threatened enough to play the "Professor Malfoy" game. He was here as Leshia's father, not as a tyrannical teacher.

"I know what you're thinking," Draco finally spoke and Owen wrinkled his brow curiously, no longer so afraid after he had sensed the change in his drinking companion. "And you're wrong."

"What am I thinking sir?"

"That I'm blundering into this situation like the overprotective dad that I am without really knowing what's going on." Owen remained silent and took a large sip of his drink. Again his reaction brought a smile to Draco's stern face. "I know my daughter better than anyone. I know exactly how she thinks, what she feels, when she's upset. She can't hide that from me, no more than you can from your parents. So you see, I have a pretty good idea about what's going on. You Owen Gabriel, have hurt my daughter even if she's never let you see, or even if she's not aware of why herself." Owen frowned.

"When?"

"On many occasions," Draco countered, his mind thinking back to the particular occasion when he had stumbled across Leshia bawling in an out of the way stairwell for finding this young man in a steamy embrace with another girl.

"I've never meant to hurt her," Owen tried with so much conviction Draco felt dismayed: this young man cared deeply for his daughter, were his intention to scare him off, he was sure he wouldn't be successful.

"Yes well whether you meant to or not, you did and as her father I don't take too kindly to people upsetting my daughter."

"Sir..." Owen trailed off, unsure of the stance between he and Draco. What was the teacher getting at? Did he want him to stop seeing Leshia? Because Owen was very sure he would never agree to that, no matter what Draco threatened to do to him in return. Draco continued to stare firmly at the boy, who looked away, his eyes drifting to a large picture on the mantelpiece opposite the settee. It was a large beaming picture of child-Leshia. The girl was in the 'muggle' room of the house Owen had visited at New Years for the Malfoy Family's party where Leshia had wept into his arms about her friends' betrayal and the news that she was to become a big sister.

The picture brought a smile to Owen's face and when Draco saw this he followed his gaze to the picture of his daughter, jumping up and down on the settee in the muggle room with childish delight. Perhaps it was the activity she was partaking in, or the plaited pigtails, but something about the picture made her seem about five years old.

"Would you like to know when that picture was taken?" Draco asked sounding neither dark nor particularly happy. Owen nodded. "Not even two years ago." Owen furrowed his brow. Surely not? Leshia looked but a child in this picture. And yet, it had been taken in the summer between first and second year before Leshia had undergone the subtle changes of becoming more feminine than childlike. "So you see, she really is only a child." Owen ground his teeth together petulantly, feeling his temper rising in defence of his adoration of the girl.

"Professor, respectfully, she's not a child anymore," the boy managed firmly. Draco narrowed his eyes and downed the rest of his drink, dropping his feet to the ground, losing his easygoing nature within a split second.

"What do you think I'm trying to do Gabriel?" Draco demanded and he refilled his glass; he seemed somehow out of his element, as though the cracks of the worried father were starting to snake through his firm façade. Owen felt a little sorry for the man. It must be hard to feel as though he was losing his daughter to her countless suitors.

"I'm not sure Professor Malfoy, I'm really not. Are you trying to scare me off Leshia? Because I'm telling you now it won't work."

"Yes I can see that," Draco replied angrily. "The lot of you are acting as though she's suddenly turned into a Veela."

"Leshia's amazing sir." The words were so heartfelt that Draco sighed and walked over to the mantelpiece scanning the pictures of his 'amazing' daughter with a father's heartbreak.

"If you ever hurt her…" Draco began darkly, his eyes falling on a picture of Hermione with their daughter, barely a few weeks old staring mesmerised at her mothers face. Despite himself a smile pulled at his face; soon they would relive these days anew. Leshia was certainly no longer that baby anymore, no matter how much it pained him.

"Professor you don't have to worry, Leshia can take care of herself." Had he been expecting more hostility Owen was pleasantly surprised to find Draco spin around with an amused grin on his face.

"Yes, I know." As though he were seeing the frightening enigmatic teacher in a new light Owen realised Draco Malfoy really was just a man. The mystery surrounding him dropped off and all it left in its wake was a concerned father worried about his daughters many suitors stealing her away from him. The young seeker couldn't slate Draco for that, he too would fight tooth and nail to keep Leshia's adoration and he had only known her a few terms.

With one last sigh Draco walked over to the settee and dropped down beside the young man sat there. For a moment he pondered the absurdity of this situation. Here he sat with a fifteen-year-old boy, and a pupil of his at that, sharing a glass of whiskey in the middle of his living room. Hermione was not going to be pleased.

XXX

"Mum what's dad going to do to him?" Thoughts of her cosy bed had flown out of Leshia's head the moment her father had led Owen away down the corridor and now she and Hermione sat on a stiff bench lining Gryffindor corridor, both anxiously watching the distance for the return of the men in their lives.

"I don't know darling, he didn't mention any of this to me," Hermione replied worriedly.

"Well you two must talk, what has he said about Owen?" The mother turned briefly to smile at her daughter.

"Nothing for you to be concerned about. This is just your dad being your dad I'm afraid."

"But Owen isn't even my boyfriend," Leshia complained. "Is dad going to do this with every male friend I have? Because I don't think I'll have any left by the end of it." Her mother laughed warmly.

"Nothing could chase them away darling, they all adore you. And for good reason." Leshia rolled her eyes.

"Don't start mum," she grumbled fondly. "Did you hear about Professor Lewis taking us all to muggle Manchester on Wednesday?" the girl suddenly piped up happily; amazed she hadn't discussed the matter with her mother before now. With so much going on, it had rather escaped everybody's heads that within a week they would be taking the fieldtrip into the heart of a muggle city. Hermione smiled broadly at her daughter.

"Well of course I heard, I'm one of the chaperones." Leshia hid her disappointment at this news with a look of surprise.

"Really?"

"Darling did you think it would just be Professor Lewis and all fifty-odd of you that are going?" For a moment the blond girl shrugged meekly; in truth she hadn't pondered the possibility that other teachers were of course coming to supervise the large gang of pupils.

"Who else is coming?" Leshia asked worriedly.

"Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, even Severus I think."

"_Snape's_ coming?" Leshia demanded icily.

"Professor Snape Leshia," her mother warned fondly. "And yes, I believe he is."

"What about dad? Is he coming too?"

"No he's not." Leshia didn't push the matter, though she wondered why her father was absent from such a heavy-duty list of teachers. She could not know that he had wanted to come, but was asked by Dumbledore to remain behind. They were up to their necks in whatever was going on with the mysterious presence stalking about the school attacking the pupils and the last thing Hogwarts and its pupils needed was for one of its main protectors to leave it vulnerable. Draco had seen sense and after making sure Hermione would keep her eyes open for any trouble, he had conceded to staying.

Leshia couldn't hide her relief at knowing her father wasn't going to be coming on the trip and though Hermione felt a little stab of hurt at seeing her, she couldn't really be upset; Leshia was after all only wanting a moment's peace to let her hair down.

"Are you upset that I'm coming?" she asked worriedly.

"Don't be silly mum. Professor Lewis hasn't actually told us much. How are we getting there?"

"Portkey I believe. It'll drop us off at the Magic House in the centre of town."

"What's the Magic House?" Leshia asked curiously.

"It's a safe hold for the magical community, almost a leisure centre really the way they use and abuse it." Hermione seemed fond in her teasing of the magical community of the north, but behind her words lay a rather firm belief that they tended to get a bit carried away in those Northern towns. Leshia would fit right in, she thought later with a small smile.

The pair fell into silence while they looked up the corridor once more. They managed to distract one another for ten more minutes or so before they decided enough was enough and twenty minutes was surely enough to have 'a word'? With the same mission on their minds the two Malfoy ladies set off down the corridor. They followed the route Draco had led Owen down and having a sneaking suspicion she knew where they had gone, Hermione led Draco down the corridor towards the family chambers.

"Why would dad have taken him here?" Leshia asked worriedly, hoping her mother was very wrong.

"I know your father," Hermione sighed. "I know how he thinks." This was answer enough for the expectant mother, who led Leshia along towards the portrait of the newlyweds. Before she had even reached out to the groom's foot however, the painting swung forward revealing a rosy cheeked Owen following Draco out the door. Hermione crossed her arms with one eyebrow arched while Leshia looked to her friend worriedly, silently asking him if everything was all right.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked with a slight smile at his wife. Her arched eyebrow rose even higher.

"I should be asking you that same question."

"Owen are you okay?" Leshia asked when the boy avoided her eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Draco Malfoy…" Hermione, who had been standing nearest the boy and smelled what she had suspected on his breath, began sounding very bemused. Both Leshia and Owen glanced to one another and automatically took a step back. "I would like to have a word with you."

"Now?" Draco asked fondly, glancing to the two youngsters eyeing them worriedly.

"Yes, right this instant." With this Hermione managed a smile at the two youngsters before she sped into the family chambers. Draco watched her go before turning on Leshia and her friend.

"Dad, what did you do?" Leshia asked warily.

"Absolutely nothing sweetheart. Run along." With this Draco followed his wife into their chambers and pulled the door shut behind himself. Instinctively the portrait sealed soon afterwards leaving Leshia looking up at Owen urgently.

"Okay so everyone here seems to know what's going on except me," the girl finally spoke aloud sounding bemused above all else. "What did my dad do to you, how did my mum know and why is she spitting furious with my dad?" Owen laughed and in an instant Leshia got an answer to all three of her questions when the familiar smell of whiskey brushed against her face. "Ah, right."

"You know Malfoy," Owen said cheerfully, slinging his arm about the girl's shoulder and dragging her back down the corridor. Leshia had not the heart to fight him on this and she suspected with his added surge of whiskey-induced-confidence she wouldn't stand a chance if she were to try. "Your dad? He's alright."

XXX

Draco hadn't seen his wife so angry in a long time. When he retreated into the living room once more he found her staring at the two empty glasses on the coffee table, her worst fears confirmed.

"You are _so_ irresponsible!" she snapped the moment he walked in the room and shut the door behind himself.

"Granger calm down. It's not good for you and the baby."

"I will _not_ calm down!" Hermione exclaimed passionately, her eyes wide as dinner plates and her hands curled into little fists at her sides. "You just force-fed a child liquor Draco! He's fifteen! What were you trying to accomplish?" Draco rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly before he dropped down in the armchair furthest from his furious wife.

"For starters," he finally began magnanimously. "There was no force-feeding involved. I offered and he accepted, plain as that."

"Probably because he was too terrified to say no!" Hermione grumbled in an undertone.

"Secondly," Draco spoke louder, though he smiled at his wife's interference. "You're the one that keeps insisting Leshia isn't a child anymore and this boy is one year older than she is. So how can one be a young woman and the other not a young man?" Hermione glowered her answer with a glare. "Thirdly, what I hoped to accomplish was accomplished."

"And what was that?" Hermione demanded. For the first time since Hermione had started her tirade Draco finally lost his smile and seemed incredibly humble.

"He proved, for now at least, that he was worthy of our daughter." Hermione wrinkled her brow and suddenly crossed the room to her husband's side. He hadn't expected her to lavish loving attention on him at his announcement; though it was a pleasant turnaround to the seething hormonal wife he had been dealing with moments before.

"Oh you darling," Hermione finally exclaimed jubilantly.

"Just about mind you. He's still a cocky so and so that needs taking down a peg or two," Draco grumbled, not wanting his wife to think him too soft.

"But a cocky so and so you approve of," Hermione gushed, lavishing another shower of kisses on Draco's bemused face.

"Right that's it." Within moments Draco was on his feet and heading for the door, his mood only for show and Hermione knew it.

"Where are you going?" she laughed in his wake.

"To terrorise the first misbehaving pupils I come across!" With this he was gone and Hermione beamed after him. She knew her husband well and at this moment in time he had allowed himself to feel too good about himself meaning he had to go and do something cruel to reinstate in his mind that he wasn't a 'nice guy'. Draco Malfoy would never allow himself feel too good about himself. He didn't deserve such luxuries. Not yet anyway.

XXX

The change in Owen was a subtle one, but occurred it had. His friends noticed the moment they saw him, in the way he walked with his head held high and the increased presence he carried with him into the common room. Owen Gabriel had gone into the Lion's Den and survived, but not only that, he had come out a man, judged to be so by the manliest of all men that Owen knew. Yes Malfoy was a nutcase, a total and utter nutcase, but boy was he brave, and in his fifteen-year-old mind bravery accounted for masculinity.

Leshia couldn't quite believe it as they headed back to Gryffindor tower; Owen and her father had shared words and drinks and the boy had lived to tell the tale. Feeling indescribably proud of both of them Leshia was not to be pulled from her good mood, which only increased when she and Owen climbed through the portrait hole to find Gryffindor had once more risen to the occasion and an impromptu party was going ahead full steam to celebrate the win over Ravenclaw.

"Leshia!" Rachel crowed the moment the blonde girl entered into the hubbub. It took the youngsters a long time to reach each other, but after struggling past well-wishers and mad dancers the two best friends found each other.

"What did your dad do to Owen?" Rachel asked worriedly once the two girls had ducked away from the noise into the girls' bathrooms.

"He gave him whiskey," Leshia replied happily. Rachel wrinkled her nose and brow and looked more incredulous than ever before.

"Okay, I understand," she finally sighed dramatically. "It's too painful to talk about."

"No you moron," Leshia giggled happily. "He really did. I think that whatever trap my dad spun for Owen, well I think he passed." Rachel was looking very incredulous.

"You mean your dad actually likes Owen now?"

"Well I wouldn't go that far, but he definitely isn't doing the overprotective dad thing anymore, which is only ever a good thing right?" Rachel nodded quickly.

"Well yeah, if he's for real."

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Well it's your dad isn't it? He could suddenly change his mind. I mean we all know he's totally and utterly off his rocker." For a moment Leshia seemed a little hurt, but then all of a sudden her expression shifted into mischief and she lunged into a play attack on her best friend, ruffling her hair and tickling her sides with no mercy.

"Truce!" Rachel squealed gleefully when she couldn't contain herself anymore.

"Will you stop insulting the Malfoy name?"

"Yes! I swear! I promise on my great aunt Millie's polka dancing dish towels!" Instantly Leshia released the redhead and the pair beamed at one another.

"Polka dancing dish towels?" Leshia finally managed sounding quite beside herself with mirth.

"Oh I've never told you about them? They're _amazing_."

"Rachel? Leesh?" Halfway through Rachel's excitable story about her favourite family heirloom the two girls looked up as Katie peeked her head round the bathroom door, her brow wrinkled as she expected to find some sort of drama going on. When both her best friends seemed to be perfectly happy and mid-exuberant conversation Katie frowned in confusion.

"Nicky and Ash told me you two disappeared in here. I thought something had happened with your dad," Katie said with a furrowed brow in confusion.

"No, my dad was as good as gold for once," Leshia replied happily.

"Then what _are_ you doing?" Katie asked looking a little left out. "In the bathrooms?" she added.

"What do you think?" Leshia feigned seriously. "I was about to have a bath."

"Oh," Katie managed uncomfortably, before both Leshia and Katie cracked up and dragged Katie in by her shoulders. The raven-haired girl beamed at Leshia happily and hugged her firmly about the neck.

"You've got to stop it with the near-death experiences on the quidditch pitch Leesh, I couldn't breath that last match. You scared me half to death." Leshia snorted cheerfully.

"Nah, quidditch wouldn't be the same without seeing me freefalling through the clouds before pulling off some last second fantastic recovery." Katie and Rachel exchanged a grim look.

"Well _I_ could certainly do without it," Katie insisted. "So your dad didn't kill Owen, that's always good right?" Once more Leshia snorted cheerfully with laughter. The afternoon's events had only furthered to put her in a delightfully good mood.

"Better than having to report the poor sod missing and my dad winding up in Azkaban for it yeah," Leshia replied happily, before she stifled a very large yawn with her sleeve.

"Come on, let's not deprive the party of its guest of honour any longer," Katie chirruped happily, swinging her arm around Leshia's neck and guiding her back towards the hubbub in the common room.

"Yeah, let's try and get in a few rounds before she passes out from exhaustion," Rachel added in mirth. Her estimation of Leshia's tiredness was as usual spot on and after just one bottle of butterbeer the young seeker could be found snoozing lightly in the most comfortable settee of the lot right in front of the hearth. Were she any other poor unsuspecting napper she would have woken to find an everlast ink moustache adorning her face, or worse, half an eyebrow mysteriously missing, but as she had just put in yet another star performance in the name of the house, everyone left her alone. And when Tom and Luke Weasley, the mischief-makers of the decade, tried to sneak a 'Snore-me-wake' lozenge down Leshia's throat they found themselves suddenly airlifted away from the girl by some of the older lads.

Leshia woke hours later in the same position she had fallen asleep in her stomach grumbling and her neck stiff. After having light-hearted go at everyone in her vicinity when she woke for allowing her to sleep in the middle of a party (how embarrassing!) Leshia finally cheered up at the prospect of dinner and followed her friends down to the great hall. Only now did she share with them what her mother had told her about their muddle studies trip, which was due to take place in only a few days. The others were equally as disappointed as she had been to hear they would be chaperoned by some of the strictest teachers Hogwarts had to offer – accusing glances were thrown at this point at Snape and McGonagall up at the head table. How were they going to enjoy themselves with Snape breathing down their necks the whole time?

As though sensing the spreading unease about his planned field trip Professor Lewis climbed to his feet at the end of dinner to announce a meeting being held the next day after lessons to go over the final plans for the fieldtrip. Needless to say the youngsters were all frightfully curious and the following day Leshia and her friends were warned twice in their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson before they earned themselves a detention with Draco that even Leshia's half-hearted attempts at the end of the lesson couldn't worm them out of.

"It's so unfair, everyone was talking," Leshia grumbled to her friends as they rushed off towards the main hall.

"The Slytherins were positively gossiping on the back row. Why was your dad picking on us?" Rachel added. Only Katie felt their punishment was probably deserved, but she kept this to herself while her friends moaned on. Finally they reached the great hall and they ran inside to find most of their peers had already gathered. Seeing Rodeo and Parys sat on the other side of the group from Owen Gabriel and his friends Leshia, who had ran in first and was leading the way, very nearly didn't know which way to go when posed with the dilemma. Whereas both groups were trying to hail the girls over Leshia found herself being drawn towards the older boys, before she was quite rudely dragged back to Earth by Katie taking the lead and dragging her over to their year mates. Leshia couldn't take her eyes off Owen Gabriel as she took her place on the bench next to Parys.

"Gone off us have you Leesh?" the boy whispered to her trying to sound flippant, but actually just sounding hurt.

"Huh?"

"You wishing you were sat with them," Parys stated. It wasn't a question.

"I will if you keep feeling sorry for yourself," Leshia sniggered and she briefly wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged his head. He squirmed away, his big grin restored, as down in the centre of the gathered pupils Professor Lewis had stood up to get their attention.

"Good afternoon everyone," he beamed jovially at the gathered pupils. "I have called you all together to discuss Wednesday's plans." For a moment his twinkling eyes turned towards Leshia and her friends – it was their dissent spreading through the ranks that had brought about this emergency meeting to settle everyone's concerns. "As you may have heard we will be joined by several of my esteemed colleagues so as to minimise any hassles we might come across on our journey into the muggle world. Life as a muggle is not easy and for some of you, you will totally and utterly lost without some expert guidance. For that reason I want you all to be on perfect behaviour for the teachers giving up a day of their busy schedules so that we may go."

"Now then, on Wednesday morning I'm going to have to ask you to gather quite early I'm afraid. We have a lot to get through and one of our first orders of the day is observing muggle rush hour, when they flood the public transport system and the roads in order to get to their many jobs."

"How early is early sir?" a sixth year boy from Ravenclaw piped up from across the group.

"An excellent question. Does anybody here remember what time rush hour commences for muggles?" the professor put forward to his amalgamated class.

"It usually takes place between seven-thirty and nine in the morning sir," a bookwormy-type from Hufflepuff quickly offered.

"Excellent Dorothy, five points to Hufflepuff," Professor Lewis beamed at the girl, while across the room Owen and his friends rolled their eyes at one another and mocked their classmate cruelly. Leshia furrowed her brow at him across the void and instantly the keeper stopped and hung his head in shame. Leshia had no idea about the fourth year class dynamics and therefore was unaware of the insufferable teacher's pet Dorothy Graham.

Meanwhile Katie and Rachel were exchanging grimaces when they truly thought about what this Dorothy girl had said. Rush hour fell between seven-thirty and nine, so that meant that they were surely going to have to meet at an even more ungodly hour in order to get to Manchester in time.

"Everyone will be expected in the main hall on Wednesday at quarter to seven in the morning," Professor Lewis next announced to a chorus of groans.

"I didn't know there even was such a thing as quarter to seven," Rachel whispered to her friends worriedly, who sniggered happily in return.

"At which point," Professor Lewis was continuing cheerfully over the grim mumbles of his pupils. "You will be divided into your year groups and your supervisors will take you through the portkey one group at a time."

"Sir aren't we going as a group?" Leshia found herself asking with a concerned frown set into her forehead. Across the group Owen met her eye with the same expression of disappointment. Suddenly the excursion seemed less enjoyable to the pair and several others who had hoped to spend time with people outside of their year.

"Each year group has been preparing different topics for this trip Miss Malfoy. There are too many sights and processes to observe. Some items may coincide and the groups will come together, but for the most part we will only come together for breakfast and lunch."

"Oh," was all the blonde girl could manage and she slumped back in her chair next to her Parys and Rodeo seemed indescribably happy with themselves. While Professor Lewis continued to explain that they would be given their individual schedules on the day of the trip he vaguely explained that he would be drifting between the groups so as to teach them personally, for the most part they would be with their supervisors.

As Leshia and her friends ambled out later that evening the girl felt indescribably low. All she could grumble before she disappeared upstairs to start work on an impossibly difficult Transfiguration essay, "I'll bet we end up with Snape as our supervisor!"

XXX

Tuesday evening saw a subdued crowd heading to bed early after an evening spent lounging around the common room. Leshia was one of the last of the muggle studies lot to remain behind as quite early on in the evening she and Owen had somehow ended up on one armchair. As she lay in bed tossing and turning Leshia pondered how it was she had ended up in such a pleasant predicament. In the end the girl felt she had to thank Professor McGonagall, who had set such a difficult piece of homework Owen had noticed the assignment on his way past. He had instantly dropped down onto the armrest of the chair to tease the girl and after the first play fight they found themselves in he had slid onto the armchair, squeezed in with Leshia. He had not moved all night.

With a happy sigh Leshia squirmed down in her sheets remembering how good it had felt to lie back tucked under Owen's arm, her legs dangling over his. She had felt so absolutely at ease and yet so stricken by butterflies that every time he moved she thought she would swoon and faint from giddiness. When it came down to it it had been Owen's friends who had dragged him away, claiming they were not going to carry him down to the great hall come quarter to seven in the morning and so after hoisting Leshia to her feet in his wake Owen had sauntered off, looking decidedly put out that their cosy interlude had been interrupted.

Leshia could entirely understand how he felt and the last thing she remembered thinking about before she fell asleep was the giddiness of knowing Owen Gabriel was sleeping barely a few yards away upstairs on the floor above.

The following morning the third year Gryffindor girls were highly rudely awoken by Rachel, who went from one bed to the next jumping on her friends with no remorse. They were furious with her as they changed into their 'muggle' clothes and packed satchels for the day's note taking and adventures. Leshia was the last one out of the room and with a heavy yawn she traipsed after her friends, becoming instantly more alert when she noticed ahead of them down the corridor Owen and his friends were tiredly dragging their feet towards the great hall. Needless to say Leshia's attempts to speed her friends up in their direction was not heeded and so she had to wait until they reached the hall before she could sidle up to her friend and poke him in the ribs in greeting while he stood mid-stretch.

Despite his tiredness, Owen managed to offer the Malfoy girl a charming grin before he dropped down with his friends on a bench with a few others from their year. Leshia drifted over to where her friends had claimed a bench for themselves and only now did the girl notice her mother was beaming at her from a gathering of teachers.

"Morning," Leshia mouthed and she waved happily before looking back to her friends. They seemed less exuberant and even Rachel was frowning. The source of their displeasure was undoubtedly the sour look on Rodeo's face, who had been sulking ever since he noticed Leshia and her new beau sandwiched into a cosy armchair the night before. However, at this moment in time, the young girl was oblivious to anyone's feelings except her own turbulent ones.

A little past quarter to Professor Lewis separated from the teachers' side and drew the pupils' attention onto himself with ease.

"Good morning everyone," he called out cheerily. "I am very pleased to see that you all made it on time. Without further ado, allow me to introduce the supervisors to each assigned group." Without beating round the bush Professor Lewis looked to the third years with a twinkling smile. "Third years, your supervisor for the day will be Professor Granger," he told them and despite herself Leshia grinned happily at her friends. She had been hoping for Professor Lewis himself, but had already decided that her mother was definitely the next best choice.

"Come on you lot," Hermione was now calling to the tired youngsters. "We've got a lot to see. On your feet." Had they expected a slow welcome into the morning the pupils were much mistaken as one moment they were waving their other-year-friends goodbye and the next they were being pulled by their bellybuttons towards the cereal box portkey. After the spinning sensation had stopped Hermione stepped backwards to see all seventeen of her charges had made it. She had the largest group by far, but felt more than capable to deal with them.

"Come on, let's clear out before the next group get here," she instructed the class and led them out into a very quiet corridor in the so-called Magic House of Manchester. Similar to the Ministry in London in design, the building was enormous with mysterious goings on round ever turn. The youngsters felt they could have stayed and explored a lot longer, but Hermione was leading them out into a cold dark street.

"Where are we going Miss?" Rodeo piped up, seemingly back in good sorts now Leshia and that Owen Gabriel boy had been separated.

"We're going to meet up with the fourth and fifth years for breakfast at the station," Hermione replied cheerfully. "It's a brisk fifteen minute walk everyone, so let's get going. Now remember, act like a muggle!" Leshia soon found her way to her mother's side at the head of the group with her friends trailing behind them. Though everything was fascinated and she wanted to turn her head this way and that Leshia had more urgent things on her mind.

"Mum are you sure _you're_ up for a brisk walk?" she asked in an undertone. Hermione chuckled genially and smiled warmly at her daughter.

"I'll be fine darling," she assured the girl, before her expression quickly changed more serious.

"Mr Allseyer, stay with the group!" the strictest sound Leshia had ever heard come out of her mother's mouth suddenly rang out. At the back of the hoard of third years Damian Allseyer, who had been all set on wandering down a very interesting side street stopped in his tracks. How had that God-awful woman known what he was doing? She didn't have eyes in the back of her head…did she? "If I have to warn you one more time you will be walking up front with me. That goes for all of you. We will not hesitate to send anyone home who is not behaving themselves."

"How did you do that?" Leshia whispered once the chatter had resumed behind them.

"Ah," Hermione crowed gently and she beamed at her daughter. "I have my ways." Not mentioning the rather easy _Humuslocus_ charm – a group location spell that alerted Hermione to the whereabouts of her group members – she had taught all the supervisors Hermione's decision to remain mysterious worked to prompt Leshia into promising herself that she wasn't going to misbehave no matter who or what tried to provoke her. For the remainder of the walk Leshia and her friends chatted happily to Hermione who led the group without any hassles to the central station. Everywhere muggles drifted around in smart suits or with a large case attached to their hands and before she knew it Hermione's charges had started to drift off.

"All of you, come back!" she called the third years and whilst the muggle stared at the school children they obeyed, their heads hanging in embarrassment. "Professor Lewis has been preparing you for this trip a long time he assures me," Hermione told her group as she led them to an out of the way section of the station where she, McGonagall and Snape (the fourth and fifth year supervisors respectfully) had agreed to meet for the packed breakfasts. "You must know you cannot simply walk off into unknown territory. There will be time to explore later, I can assure you, but for now we are all going to stick together. Now then, yesterday you were all given a workbook in your Muggle Studies lesson weren't you? Come on, come on, take a seat and let's get them out. I believe your first exercise can be completed from this very spot."

XXX

Hermione proved inspirational in getting the moping, tired and hungry youngsters to complete the first exercise in their books – taking note of all the different types of muggles who swarmed the train station at rush hour, an exercise in identifying them by their fashion choices and their accessories. Finally, after half an hour they were joined by the fourth years who had stopped to do a similar exercise in a large square barely five minutes down the road and shorty after their arrival, the fifth years, who had taken shelter in the bus station for their first exercise.

The youngsters were needless to say, absolutely starving and before Owen and his friends could drift over to where Leshia and hers were commandeering a bench the classes were called forward by their supervisors to collect paper bags of packed breakfasts lovingly prepared by the castle's elves. By the time Owen did finally track down his new favourite girl, she was greedily tucking into a bacon sarnie.

"Where have you lot been?" she asked happily as Owen squeezed onto the opposite bench beside some fourth year girls – Leshia had moments before been pondering how grateful she was that Valerie Beckett did not take Muggle Studies.

"In the blimming cold," Paul answered for his friend as he peered inside his paper bag at the glorious contents.

"It sucks that we're going to separate again soon," Leshia next sighed.

"McGonagall was telling us we'll be meeting up again for lunch in this large muggle mall. We'll be doing a few exercises together afterwards she was saying," Owen tried to console the girl, who cheered up greatly at this news. Before too long the third years had finished and were being dragged away by their teacher, who was taking them onto a train to carry out their second exercise. Despite her exuberance at sharing a cramped four-seater booth with her four friends Leshia couldn't help but feel dismayed when the train pulled out of the station leaving Owen behind.

XXX

The morning was progressing swimmingly Hermione thought to herself as she led her excited and well-behaved class into the large mall she had promised them some free time in before lunch. The class had responded so well to their tour through the various parts of town they had learned about and on the various public transports they had studied.

She was beginning to lose their attention and so the moment she had showed them where to meet for lunch she set them free, giving them half an hour to browse the shops and arcades till their hearts content. Within seconds Leshia, Katie and Rachel had managed to lose their male friends and drifted over to one of the many muggle high street fashion outlets that had caught their eye.

"So Leesh," Katie finally spoke aloud what she had been wanting to spill all day. Rachel glowered at her ominously.

"Hmm?"

"What happened between you and Owen last night?" Leshia looked up from the jeans she had just been studying to frown at her bespectacled friend.

"Absolutely nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?" Katie pressed with a mischievous expression dancing across her pretty face. Rachel's glower increased tenfold; she had warned her cousin countless times as they got ready for bed the night before to go easy on Leshia. The blonde girl didn't respond well to invasions into private emotions she didn't even fully understand and Rachel knew this all too well. Katie too, ought to know this, but she had remained blissfully ignorant to Rachel's warnings and was now going ahead full steam.

"Katie! Look over there. Eighty percent off, last chance bargains!" Rachel suddenly spluttered, pointing towards a rack of unloved and grubby looking rags. Katie was not impressed and raised a delicate eyebrow in her cousin's direction.

"Rach those clothes are eighty percent off for a reason," she finally exclaimed firmly.

"You never know Kate, in an amongst the rags you might come across a real bargain, but then again if you were too snobby to look..." Rachel trailed off and shrugged her shoulders while on Katie's face a look of doubt spread. Rachel pounced. "Might even find that black halterneck top you've been going on about all week."

"Be right back," Katie announced suddenly and within seconds she had darted off towards the forgotten clothes to peer through the rummage for something worth purchasing. If there was one thing Katie couldn't resist then that would be a good bargain.

"Thanks," Leshia whispered with a small grin, conveying a huge swathe of gratitude with such a simple gesture. Rachel smiled back and shrugged her shoulders.

"What do you think of these?" the blonde girl suddenly asked, pulling a pair of jeans off the rack and holding them up to herself. They trailed far below her trainers making Rachel snigger.

"Unless you're planning on bribing your mum into performing a lengthening charm on your legs, then I'd put them back."

"Hey! That's not all that bad an idea. Why haven't I thought of that before?" The girl seemed deadly serious.

"Because there's no such thing," Rachel sniggered. "And even if there were, you're mum would never charm your legs longer Leesh." The blonde girl grinned, before she sighed dramatically.

"Pity." Pushing the jeans back onto the rack Leshia and Rachel started towards the door, looking over their shoulders to see Katie was contemplating a rather sorry looking red top.

"Katie put it back, that looks like it was someone's breakfast in a past life," Rachel called out cheerfully. While the two girls roared with laughter Katie shoved the top back onto the rail as though it had given her an electric shock, before she careened after the other two. Luckily for Leshia Rodeo and Parys were what could only possibly be called 'loitering' outside and so Katie's inquisition of Leshia did not continue.

"So ladies, did you have a good time shopping?" Parys asked cheerfully leading the girls over to a decorative fountain that had already drawn several muggle ruffiens to its allure. Leshia was all too sure she didn't want to sit down by it, as judging by the hooded teenagers gathered around it it was some sort of gathering point for the muggle truants.

"They don't look very friendly," Leshia whispered in Rachel's ear as the boys dropped down on a bench with Katie sandwiched between them, regaling Rodeo with some story or other about a time her brother Michael fell into a fountain similar to this one. Leshia and Rachel hung back watching a particularly intimidating group of youths watching them back in turn. Their looks weren't particularly savoury.

"Oh yuck Leesh, they're checking you out," Rachel grumbled in disgust.

"Don't stare at them then," Leshia complained, squeezing onto the bench on Parys' other side, allowing his tall body to block out the frightening muggle boys.

"This is all just too weird," Rodeo finally sighed when Katie's amusing anecdote had come to an end.

"What is?" Leshia piped up.

"Well I'm sitting in a shopping centre, with you guys," the boy explained happily. "It's like two worlds colliding. I'm not sure I like it." Rachel sniggered with laughter and from her position on the floor she lifted up her feet and rested them on Parys' knees.

"It's not like we go home in the holidays and never leave the confines of our wizardly homes," she sniggered while Leshia furrowed her brow at the girl.

"Since when did you start using the word 'confines'?" she teased, but quickly regretted it when Rachel's foot reached out and kicked her gently in her arm. "She's got a point though, we do know how to do muggle things you know Rodes."

"Shhh," Katie admonished her friends, a bemused expression on her face. Nearby a group of muggles were watching them in bemusement. "Remember where we are." Thinking it best to get away from their glowering faces the five Gryffindors climbed to their feet and ambled off talking in hushed tones as they went about gormless muggle youths. The mood was a slightly subdued one until the youngsters came across a shop baring the name 'Gadget Stop'. Instantly the children's eyes went wide with interest and they shuffled in to paw at all the shiny 'toys' inside. Before too long they were spending their muggle pocket money on the delightful and humorous memorabilia.

"Oh I want this so bad!" Leshia groaned, pawing at a delightfully funny hot water bottle in the form of a muggle cartoon character she was very fond of. The price tag bore a sum greater than the amount Leshia had clutched in her hand.

"Why don't you go to one of those hole in the wall thing that gives out muggle money?" Rachel piped up at her side. Leshia sniggered.

"They don't just give you money Rach, you have to have a bank account."

"You do don't you?" the redhead asked with a wrinkled brow. "Didn't you use one of those things the last time we all went to the muggle high street?"

"Well yeah, but I'm not meant to use it,"

"Well then why do you have it?"

"Emergencies."

"Couldn't you call this an emergency? You know, if you stretch the truth just a little bit?" Leshia looked down at the hot water bottle with an expression of deep thought.

"Hmmm."

"Just think of your poor feet when the cold weather rolls in."

"It's nearly spring," Leshia giggled to an exasperated sound by Rachel.

"Leesh I'm trying to make this easier for you." After grinning at the redhead Leshia flung the hot water bottle at her friend and headed for the door of the shop.

"Want me to come?" Rachel called after her, but she didn't get a response, as Leshia was gone. She remembered seeing a cashpoint further along up the row of shops and soon she had stuck her rarely used bankcard into the slot. It took the youngster a few moments to remember her pin code and the correct way to request money, but finally she'd withdrawn twenty muggle pounds. Fingering the strange note briefly with a gleeful smile Leshia stuffed it in her pocket before she spun around. Instantly she lost her smile. In her momentary lapse in concentration the young girl had become surrounded by the very same youths that had been ogling her so menacingly at the fountain.

"Alright there gorgeous?" a spotty thug leered at her as she shrunk back against the wall scanning the rows of hideous faces for an escape route.

"Fine thanks," she replied with a steely determination. Though she had looked fists in the face many times at school, somehow these foreign creatures were all the more terrifying in their military uniform of hoods and training trousers. They looked so faceless…so cruel.

"Where you off to in a hurry?" the boy was continuing, closing in on Leshia as though she were a slab of meat and he a hungry wolf.

"My friends are waiting for me." Not heeding her words the leader of the pack closed in even more until Leshia could smell the cigarette smoke and cheap beer on his breath. He was even viler up close than from a distance. "I really have to go," Leshia stated firmly trying to skitter away from the thug, coming acropper two of his thuggish cronies on the way.

"You'll go when I say you can go," the leader growled in what he most likely thought was a terrifically seductive bad-boy fashion, but actually only furthered to turn Leshia's stomach.

"I'll go where and when I want," Leshia countered angrily. Her spirit was certainly putting the thug-like leader off. He wasn't used to girls turning him down. Then again, he'd never tried these tactics with a girl like Leshia before. She wasn't like the scallywags that skived school to hang about the mall chasing after the truant boys, but there was something so special about her even the lowlife thugs were drawn towards her.

"Not this time gorgeous, you're not going anywhere." Pressed up against the hideous boy now Leshia fought the urge to gag right in his pockmarked face. She wondered privately how much trouble she would be in for hexing him with boil curse she had once used before to bring her nemesis Damian Allseyer to the ground in agony.

"I promise you, you're going to regret this," Leshia hissed angrily, glaring so furiously at the boy she was amazed he didn't back away. Perhaps only magical people swayed under Malfoy glaring powers.

For a moment the thugs laughed in such an oafish way Leshia couldn't stop herself form rolling her eyes. What a ridiculous predicament to find herself in! Quite suddenly though, before she could be punished for her cockiness the boy's face inches from her own burst into a bloody fountain. A large balled up fist that soon knocked the boy straight in the eye was evidently the source and despite herself Leshia screamed and struggled away from the violent fight that suddenly enveloped the thugs and…

"Owen!" Leshia cried out as her saviour caught a blow to the mouth from the furious dethroned thug king. "Stop it you monster!" Leshia cried out at the boy and without thinking she ran forward into the fray. The thugs cared not that she was a girl and soon Leshia found herself on the receiving end of many a punch. It didn't matter though; her main concern was getting to Owen Gabriel, who was being used as a veritable punch bag by three of the thugs and their leader.

Owen watched through half closed eyes, swollen from the astonishingly painful beating he was receiving, as Leshia threw herself into the fight. Wanting to throttle her for her stupidity he tried to struggle free, to get her out of harms way. His physical pain at the hands of those punches was nothing compared to the anguish he felt at seeing Leshia catching blows to the face for trying to help him. He was beginning to lose consciousness just as Leshia fell to her knees a yard from him.

"Leshia!" he called out sounding pained. Quite suddenly the tables turned and as one the group of thugs started fleeing from the muggle security guards, hailed by several of the anxious onlookers. Not only muggles had watched in amazement as the fight broke out, but hearing a commotion Leshia's friends had rushed from the shop to see that as usual their friend was at the centre of all the trouble.

"Leesh!" Rachel cried out, the first one to break the stunned silence. She had reached her best friend's side before Leshia had managed to pull herself to her feet. Inches from her Owen was being dragged to his feet by his bloodied friends Dan and Paul. Both he and Leshia were panting, staring at one another with concern in their matching expressions.

"Are you okay?" Owen demanded of the girl, reaching out a long arm so that he could cup the side of Leshia's injured face with his hand.

"I'll be fine. What about you?" He grinned dashingly.

"I'll live."

"What were you thinking?" Leshia then demanded sounding pained. In the distance another commotion was stirring when both Hermione and Professor McGonagall caught wind of what had happened and were fast approaching through the concerned looking Hogwarts crowds.

"He was going to hurt you, I couldn't let him do that," Owen replied with a passionate edge to his tone. His eyes betrayed far more of his feelings, but Leshia still couldn't understand how sick Owen had felt when he saw that vile muggle beast pushed up against her, his face inches from hers. It had almost looked as if they were about to…

"Leshia! Are you okay darling?" Hermione didn't care that several of the Hogwarts pupils started laughing at her emotionality.

"Mum I'm fine, but Owen's not." The tall boy glowered playfully at Leshia when her mother turned on him and instantly winced. He couldn't know how bruised and unrecognisable his poor face looked.

"Oh," Hermione grimaced. "Are you okay Owen? Are you in a lot of pain?" The boy shook his head wearily.

"No, it's not so bad," he lied, wincing despite himself in pain as he moved his battered head. Looking from her daughter to the boy and then to his bleeding and bruised friends Hermione sighed heavily.

"We have to get them back to the castle," she uttered in an undertone to Professor McGonagall at her side who nodded seriously and glanced around to see most of their charges had made their way over to see what was going on.

"You ought to take them as far as the Magic House, I will stay here with the others." Before too long Hermione was leading the injured pupils out into the street. Muggles stared in shock and at one point Hermione froze in fear as in the distance a muggle copper was walking determinedly towards them. Luckily enough for Hermione and her charges a youth chose this time to snatch a handbag right in front of the policeman and he had to abandon the bloody group of children to take off after the child in pursuit.

"I can't believe this has happened," Hermione sighed heavily, looking at Owen's injuries again with a worried wince. The boy _did_ look terribly battered. She had not yet asked what happened – though she had determined from the worried pupils that had come to find her, Owen and his friends had been saving Leshia from a group of muggle ruffians.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's not exactly painting a wonderful impression on the rest of the school. We take you into the muggle world and you get beaten to within an inch of your lives. The parents will not be happy about this one." Hermione had spoken so softly only Leshia heard, but for a moment Leshia wished she too could have missed her mother's worried sentiments. She hadn't thought of that one.

For the remainder of the short journey Hermione hurried her charges on as quickly as she dared until they reached the Magic House where the clinic quickly saw to the worst of the injuries Leshia, Owen, Paul and Dan had sustained in the fight. When they were feeling far better Hermione saw them home through the floo network and though she sent them off towards the hospital wing she headed off towards the headmaster's study to explain what had happened.

XXX

Far later still when Leshia and her heroic friends had been discharged they soon found themselves in another exceedingly awkward situation.

"Leshia!" Before she could quite turn around Leshia was wrenched into a powerful hug. "Your mother told me what happened," Draco exclaimed breathily, as though he had been running towards the hospital wing to find the youngsters, which, in fact, he had. After one last firm squeeze Draco let the girl go and sized up the recovered youngsters with an appreciative look. Hermione had explained why the fight had broken out and to hear that these men had risked their own safety to ensure Leshia's was a definite way to Draco's heart. "Thank you," he told the three surprised boys with an earnestness they hadn't expected.

"Dad we've been through a lot and that recovery drought Madam Pomfry just shoved down our throats is making my head swim," Leshia explained as kindly as she could. Draco looked to her seriously, before he nodded.

"I'll see you later then," he managed, before he nodded once more to the young men and started back down the corridor, a definite edge to his walk. Leshia didn't envy any who got in his way.

Luckily the Gryffindors experienced no more interruptions on their journey back to the common room where they changed out of their bloody clothes. Dan and Paul were slipping into the stupor Pomfry's amazing healing drought held over them so Owen left them to seek out Leshia on the off chance that she might have stayed up to seek him out also. They met at the meeting of the two stairwells and smiled shyly at one another.

"You shouldn't have done that Owen," Leshia was the first to speak.

"What saved you from having that muggle oaf slobber all over you?" the boy chuckled, though his eyes showed no laughter.

"Well no, that was great, but did you have punch him? Use your _words_ Owen, not your fists," the girl teased happily.

"Oh that is it," Owen crowed and he manhandled Leshia into a headlock. "Are you happy I saved you from that disgusting muggle?"

"Yes!" Leshia laughed raucously.

"Are you happy I nearly knocked his block off to prevent him from sticking his tongue down your throat?"

"Yes!"

"Will you be good if I let you go?"

"Absolutely!" Her captor seemed to consider it for a moment. "Owen!"

"Okay, okay," the boy chuckled before he let Leshia go. She was grinning fit to burst and lunged at him digging her fingers into his ribs, entirely flying in the face of her earlier statement to behave. With an immense amount of control Owen suppressed the urge to squirm away and instead he stopped her by pulling her towards his chest with powerful arms, stopping her attacks in an instant.

"I thought you said you'd be good?" Owen laughed and he looked down at his friend, who was beaming up at him with such a mischievous face he burst into laughter at the sight of her.

"You should know by now Owen, I'm not capable of being good," Leshia explained, her warm breath tickling the tall boy's chin.

"I think you could be very good if you wanted to be," he said softly. Leshia's smile faltered for a moment and her eyes narrowed in silent understanding of the true meaning behind her friend's words.

"What if I don't know what I want?" she whispered. Quite suddenly and without warning Leshia was experiencing her first ever kiss. It was nothing like she had expected and over far too soon, because suddenly Owen pulled away from her a cocky grin on his increasingly handsome face.

"Does that make a difference?" he asked her cheerfully. For a moment Leshia's eyes drifted off to the side in an expression of feigned thought. She looked charming.

"A little, yeah." Leshia's second kiss lasted longer than her first and after getting over her initial surprise she was able to enjoy it much more. Though part of her was wondering what all the fuss was about – there was after all nothing too spectacular about the act – a sliver of electricity darted down her spine at Owen's touch. She, Leshia Malfoy, was _kissing_ Owen Gabriel!

Down below an audience had gathered with the return of the pupils from both the fieldtrip and the afternoon's classes. As though perfectly placed for maximum visibility on the mezzanine level overlooking the common room Leshia and Owen were the first things people noticed when they trudged in after a long day.

Hoots and catcalls soon broke the two embarrassed youngsters apart, but not soon enough for the third year Gryffindors, hurrying back in order to check on their injured friend, to miss it. At the entrance to the common room Katie uttered a small pained sound; the intensity of Rodeo's grip on her hand when he saw the display up on the mezzanine had surely sprained several of her fingers?

Without a word to the others Rodeo stormed out of the common room. Katie was hot on his trail, rushing to catch up with him to try and pull him back by the arm. He shook her off furiously.

"Rodeo!" Katie called after him, tears building up in her eyes.

"Leave me alone!"

"Don't push me away. Please!" the girl pleaded and after falling back to rub the tears away she pelted after her boyfriend once more.

"I'm not pushing you away. I just want to be on my _own_!" Rodeo sped up so much so that Katie had to run to reach his side. Only when she caught up did he spin round, his expression terrifying to the loved up girl at his side.

"Let me help you," Katie tried, feeling her stomach writhing and churning as she spoke. An intense jealousy and panic was ripping her up inside. How could Rodeo still care so for Leshia when they had been together nearly three months? How could he act this way in front of her?

"You can't help me Katie, that's the whole point," Rodeo countered and for a moment he seemed truly pained. "I just…I just can't do this anymore. I'm sorry!" With this he took off again leaving Katie near-hyperventilating point in the corridor.

"Can't do what?" she finally blurted out; tearing after him again and dragging him back by the arm.

"I can't pretend anymore Katie. It's not fair on you," Rodeo tried to explain, his face contorted in upset. He was being a cretin, lower even than the Slytherin scum he hated so. How could he have sunk so low? How could he be hurting an innocent girl?

"How are you pretending? Talk to me, I just don't understand." Katie had dissolved into tears and though Rodeo felt horrible through to the core he also felt relieved, though he hated himself even more when he worked out what that floating feeling was in the back of his mind.

"Katie I don't think we should be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore, not when I feel so…" A loud sob from Katie caught the words in Rodeo's mouth.

"I hate her," the girl finally wept freely, expressing words she didn't really mean.

"No you don't Katie," Rodeo sighed. "This isn't her fault. You should hate me."

"No I really do hate her. She's always better than me! She always gets what I deserve…I just…I can't…" At this point the sobs consumed poor Katie, who sunk to her knees in the middle of the corridor weeping into her knees with no control. Rodeo's brow was furrowed so deep he looked a hundred years old and for the longest time he pondered what on Earth he could do to make things better. Luckily for him this decision was soon taken out of his hands.

"Katie?" Rodeo spun round to find a very concerned Nicola and Ashley bearing down on them. They had returned late from the great hall where they had been showing their non-muggle studying friends the purchases they had made in Muggle Manchester.

"What's happened?" Nicola asked worriedly as she wrapped her arms around Katie's shaking form. Ashley glared fiercely at Rodeo, who backed away cowardly.

"Katie I'm sorry," he finally managed before he darted off, trying to get away from everything that had just happened. Nicola and Ashley guided an incredibly despairing Katie back to the common room just in time to find the girl's best friends heading out to look for her. The two groups met in the cramped passageway leading the portrait hole to the common room and when they saw Katie Rachel and Leshia immediately swarmed to her sides.

"What happened?" Rachel asked soothingly, her expression one of intense worry.

"It's all over," Katie wept in reply.

"What is?" Leshia now asked, her expression a matching pair for Rachel's. At her mild words Katie looked up sharply and pulled away from Leshia so suddenly she stumbled back into the wall. All four girls stood around her stared in surprise. "Katie?"

"Don't talk to me!" the raven-haired girl almost shrieked. Her heartbreak making way for fury. "This is all _your_ fault!"

"Katie steady on…" Rachel exclaimed when she saw an incredibly doleful look materialise on Leshia's face. Her blonde friend was in no mood for a battle and would not attack poor desperate Katie in her lowest moment, not even in self-defence, but should the heartbroken girl continue on her tirade Rachel would end up with two desperately upset friends to tend to.

"No I will not steady on!" Katie now turned on Rachel. "She deserves it! And you do too for always taking her side!" With this Katie fled through the hushed common room up to their dormitory where she hid herself behind her thick curtains. All the four remaining girls in the passageway could muster was an exchange of very shocked expressions.

XXX

Later that evening, long after dinner, when Leshia snuck out of the common room to seek out her parents she was still incredibly subdued. Katie had not re-emerged from her bed cocoon and had only let Nicola and Ashley in to talk, who returned later to explain that the girl was in such a state they were worried they ought to take her to Madam Pomfry. Owen, hearing about the fight, had respectfully kept his distance from Leshia, who sat with Rachel in their usual window box with shell-shocked expressions feeling very much alone without the third party of their trio making it a tight squeeze.

Neither girl knew what to do about the situation. They didn't feel a jot of anger towards their best friend, who was no doubt suffering the most from her broken heart. With so much hostility towards innocent Leshia how were they going to repair this situation? Leshia's argument for seeking her mother's comfort was that they needed outside help on this one. Rachel knew the score, but had said nothing of it and allowed Leshia to rush off to seek her mum and dad out in this moment of misery wishing she too could magic herself home to get her father's always-rather-unique take on things. How she missed her dad now.

Luckily for Leshia she came across no one who hindered her path on her way to the portrait of the bride and groom and before too long she was pushing the door open onto a candle lit living room where her parents were both marking work. Hermione had know something traumatic had happened to the girls since she escorted her injured daughter back to the castle; Katie's absence from dinner and Leshia and Rachel's blank expressions had revealed that a drama had occurred.

"Oh darling, come here," Hermione called to the girl the moment she appeared in the room. Without a word to either one Leshia dropped down on the settee next to her mother. Tears were streaming down her face, which was now screwed up tightly in a sob-like expression. Immediately she was swept up into her mother's arms who rocked her ever so gently while she let all the hurt out at Katie's words. Sensing a problem he would no doubt only get angry over Draco climbed to his feet and after stroking Leshia's wild curls into place he took his leave, busying himself in the small second bedroom Leshia sometimes used, but was primarily used as a makeshift library.

"What happened sweetheart?" Hermione asked gently when Leshia's tears started subsiding.

"She blames it all on me," her daughter sobbed.

"Blames what on you?" Hermione asked soothingly, knowing enough to realise Katie was the subject of this statement.

"That Rodeo dumped her."

"Oh dear," Hermione exclaimed worriedly, getting a pretty good idea about what had happened. "Why did he do that?"

"Because he's a stupid boy and doesn't know anything!" Leshia hissed angrily. Hermione chuckled despite herself and after squeezing Leshia tightly she pulled away to look her daughter in the face. "I sort of…" The girl trailed off and looked at her tightly balled fists in her lap.

"What darling?" Hermione coaxed, wanting to hear the whole story.

"Well he kind of…" Again Leshia trailed into silence as she relived the afternoon's events. Hermione waited patiently. "Well he saw me an Owen kissing." At this her mother's eyes went wide in surprise. "It was the first time!" Leshia quickly added earnestly, not wanting her mother to think this was a regular occurrence. After a beaming smile that let her daughter know she wasn't disappointed at the news Leshia continued. "Well he saw that and then flipped out at Katie. She blames me for the whole thing."

"That's very unfair of Katie, she shouldn't be blaming you," Hermione stated with a flare of motherly protectiveness creeping into her voice.

"Mum she was heartbroken, I don't think she was thinking straight," Leshia countered wisely earning herself a beaming proud smile from her mum. "I just don't know how she's going to get over this…I don't know if she'll want to be my friend anymore. It's just ruined everything!"

"Katie will get over it," Hermione tried soothingly, with the wisdom of a woman who had had her fair share of heartbreaks. Leshia stared incredulously at her mother.

"I'm not sure."

"Leshia darling love makes us all do very stupid things and often our friends are the ones who take the fall for it. She will come round." Leshia sighed and wiped at her dry eyes.

"And until then I just have to suck it up don't I?" she asked in a small voice. Hermione smiled at her and nodded meekly. "Because she's my friend and I owe her that."

That night Leshia stayed at her parents' chambers. Hermione didn't dare bring up the Owen situation, knowing Leshia had enough on her plate to worry about and instead the family enjoyed a good old fashioned trip down memory lane with several of Hermione's new photo albums that she had taken to arranging when all her maternal hormones came flooding in. Leshia almost forgot about the drama going on in Gryffindor tower, but just before she drifted off in the comfortable second bedroom of the family chambers her thoughts flew to poor Rachel all alone and the immense guilt she felt right before sleep claimed her ensured her sleep was plagued with nightmares.

Thursday morning brought with it a wave of gossip and rumours. So much so that by the time Leshia emerged to head down for breakfast the whole sorry affair had been made entirely public. She ignored the whispers of the gossip grapevine and instead held her head high as she walked down to the great hall where her friends were sitting spaced out amidst the rest of the house. Rachel and Parys were sat together and so Leshia rushed to their sides, happily welcomed to sit between them once she had reached them. After scanning the table Leshia saw Katie sitting next to her brother, her face pale, her breakfast untouched. Up the other end Rodeo was sitting silently beside Tom and Luke Weasley failing to even smile at their humorous antics, his plate clean of any food. The last person Leshia noticed was watching her intently, his expression a perfect arrangement of an apology. Owen felt truly awful for what had happened and he hoped he expressed this to Leshia before she turned away from him to address her friends.

"I'm so sorry for abandoning you last night," the girl exclaimed fervently the moment she touched down beside Rachel. "I can't believe I left you all on your own. I'm just…"

"Oh give over," Rachel managed amusedly. "Don't be so dramatic. I'm fine aren't I?"

"Yeah and besides, she had me shorty," Parys piped up cheerfully; he alone didn't seem too shaken by the whole ordeal. He knew the girls well enough to assume they would soon be bosom buddies again and quite frankly he was glad for Rodeo that he was finally being true to his heart.

"Yeah, but I was really selfish and I'm sorry," Leshia continued to Rachel after she shot Parys a small smile.

"Listen to you! You're like the bleeding heart society. I am absolutely a hundred percent fine I promise you," Rachel chuckled, though she soon lost her smile when she glanced up the row at Katie. "Her on the other hand…"

"We're just going to have to get her through it Rach," Leshia sighed, sounding pained at the thought of all the angry backlash they were going to get in return. "No matter how much she tries to curse us."

"Hey less of the us," Rachel snorted happily. "If she takes out her wand then I'm out of there. She's got a nasty accurate technique that one, like she was an expert wizarding dueller in a past life!"

"That's it!" Parys suddenly exclaimed jubilantly. The girls looked to him in puzzlement. "That's what I want to be when I grow up. A wizard dueller!"

XXX

Katie didn't speak to Leshia for days. It was hard going for the fiery young girl, who many a time wanted to snap and scream and rage at the raven-haired girl for being so unreasonable. As a result of this distasteful treatment Leshia was a fierce thing to behold and even managed to get herself thrown out of her father's lesson for being a cocky little so and so. Owen was relegated to the background and though he felt hurt in Leshia's pretending their kiss had never happened, he could entirely understand why. She had enough on her plate with Katie's little hurtful game.

Rodeo was arguably the most outcast by the girls who didn't give him the time of day. He and Parys took to moping about with the two of them well out of the way of the rivalling girls. Rodeo felt too guilty to see what he had done to the firm friendship that had been going strong between these lifelong friends. It was all his fault and it hurt him to see poor Katie taking it all out on Leshia.

Come Monday afternoon after a very shaky Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson Leshia and Katie found themselves serving a detention together. Katie's attitude had copped her an attention with Draco as well and in a thinly veiled attempt to help patch things up between the girls Draco had set them a detention together. Rachel's attempts to land herself in trouble so she could join them had amused Draco, who fondly cast her from his classroom instead of giving in to her wishes. Katie and Leshia needed to sort this thing out on their own. Their task was a simple one, grouting the stairwell on the East tower and for the most part they managed in silence. That is, until Katie finally felt her temper boil over. Leshia didn't really know what had hit her, one moment she had been forcefully digging her trowel into the loose join on two slate tiles and the next Katie was on her feet her eyes boggling dangerously, her glare enough to turn a lesser person to stone.

"What?" Leshia finally asked worriedly when Katie didn't speak.

"It's all your fault Leshia!" Katie exploded angrily. "Why do you always have to be better than me? Why did you have to lead him on, even when he and I were together! It was just cruel and vindictive!" Leshia furrowed her brow.

"I didn't lead him on," she finally managed, trying not to sound as angry as she felt at such an accusation.

"Oh no? Then how come he couldn't just forget about you? How come we were happy?" Katie sounded totally and utterly insane to Leshia, who backed away down the stairs a little.

"Katie I know you're hurt and I know Rodeo really screwed up…"

"Don't blame this on him!" Katie countered manically. "It's not his fault you got inside his head and wouldn't leave."

"Katie I'm not the one that broke your heart, it's not fair for you to take it out on me!" Leshia countered, feeling her temper rising in spikes. One moment she felt like cursing her childhood friend whereas the next she felt like pulling her into a hug to mend her broken heart.

"Leesh give me a break," Katie exclaimed a tear jumped down from her wide eyes. "You've been breaking my heart my whole life!" This cruel blow made even Leshia's eyes glassy with tears and she would have turned on heal and stalked off had she not suddenly felt a sliver of dread sink down her spine. She reached out to the handle on the stairwell, her breath coming out in quick bursts. Katie too could evidently feel it as she was edging towards the other side of the stairwell.

"It's back!" Leshia managed, trying to force away the fear making her knees weak. Just as the stench of death hit their nostrils Katie turned one last look of complete and utter terror on her friend before quite suddenly she lurched backwards through the stained glass window right behind her.

"Katie!" Leshia screamed in total and utter panic and she ran forward to the now empty window frame, looking down to see Katie's unconscious form lying on the roof of the great hall many yards below. "Katie please!" Leshia cried out as footsteps sounded all around her.

"We heard arguing," someone was saying, while someone else started screaming.

"She pushed her out the window!"

"Oh my God, is Katie dead?"

"Malfoy you're a bloody psychopath!" While all around her accusing glares locked on to Leshia, her only concern was Katie. All set on jumping out the window after the raven-haired girl Leshia only stopped when a steel grip clamped down painfully on her shoulder and pushed her aside. Severus Snape looked past the twittering children urgently to the little figure lying far down below. Pulling back sharply he fixed Leshia a look of mixed emotions. On the one hand he seemed more furious than ever she saw him, and yet he also seemed a little fearful.

"Professor I didn't…" Leshia began quickly, fighting back tears when she thought of Katie lying down below, possibly broken beyond repair.

"Silence!" Snape roared. "You. Do. Not. Move. A. Muscle!" Leshia buttoned her lip instantly and stumbled back into the handrail, tears spilling over as the murderous glares of everyone in the corridor bored into her. "If she moves one muscle you have my permission to curse her with whatever you wish!" Leshia didn't dare disobey the teacher as he suddenly flounced down the stairwell, though she desperately wished to creep back to he window to see how Katie was doing. In her mind not a sliver of anger remained, only fear that she was about to lose one of her most trusted 'sisters'.

The murderous pupils never took their eyes off Leshia, each and every one of them with their wands at the ready lest Leshia try and push one of them out the window. People soon forgot about her popularity in the face of such deviant and evil behaviour and most it was out of fear that they tracked her every move. The sound of hurried footsteps startled most of the gathered crowds and for a moment Leshia wondered who else had come to treat her as though she were a murderer. When she heard her father's voice however, Leshia's heart swam with hope. Maybe now she would be safe?

"Out of the way," the brusque tone of Professor Malfoy parted the stairs, until finally he got a clear view of his stricken child and the broken window. Without hesitation he pushed the glaring youngsters away until he reached his daughter's side at which point he dragged the girl into the crook of his arm, looking at her and silently demanding an explanation.

"Sir it's Katie, she just fell through the window," Leshia managed, pointing a shaking hand at the broken panes. Quite suddenly Draco lurched towards it dragging Leshia with him to see that down below Snape and several other teachers he had come across were gathering around Katie's unmoving form.

"All of you, return to your common rooms at once," Draco barked dangerously at the gathered youngsters.

"But sir she pushed Potter out of the window!" a vile voice Leshia knew well drawled from up above. "We were told to stay here and curse her if she tried to move." Draco turned his ice-cold eyes up towards the general area Damian Allseyer was hiding in. The boy had not the courage to state such accusations in the open.

"By whom?" the young man growled furiously.

"By Professor Snape." Draco seethed for a moment.

"If you do not leave now then _I _shall start cursing each one of you, now move it!" His warning was heeded and a quick stampede ensured soon father and daughter were alone at the window.

"She just fell dad," Leshia whispered fearfully, her tears not yet abated. "One minute there was this horrible smell and the next she just flew backwards, just like someone had shoved her, but there was no one there!" Draco turned his grave eyes on Leshia and led her slowly away from the window when down below the teachers were levitating Katie's still unmoving form towards the nearest hatch.

"Of course you didn't push her," he finally spoke, leading the way down to the nearest corridor that would lead them to the hospital wing. Not another word was spoken between them until they reached the medical wing where Katie had been thankfully revived. She seemed to be coping with her tumbled off a tower quite well and the moment Leshia walked in she tried to climb to her feet. The words she was angrily growling at Snape and the other teachers brought a big smile to Leshia's face.

"I'm telling you one last time! Leshia _did not_ push me out of the bloody window!"

XXX

Thankfully following this rather dramatic end to the feud Katie returned to normal and the friendship between the three childhood buddies was restored. Katie's brush with death was old news by the end of the evening, though what was rather amusing was her angry speech to the great hall that Leshia had not pushed her out of the tower when the rumour mill seemed to be going into overdrive. Leshia received several apologetic stares from those who had been in the tower accusing her of attempted murder. She rather wished they would keep thinking it, she'd never had so much peace and quiet since people started suspecting her of having homicidal tendencies.

Needless to say an emergency Blue Lions meeting was called to try to get their heads round what had happened to Katie. Needless to say the group was very shaken by the two girls' account and they decided it would be prudent to start a 'never go anywhere alone' rule. Though it hadn't helped Katie and Leshia in the stairwell, Katie had still ended up battered and broken on the roof below; at least Leshia was there to sound the alarm. The group shared a momentary shudder when they thought of what could have been had she just been left there.

Over the following days the atmosphere at the castle was a subdued one. The tension between Leshia and Katie may have evaporated into thin air the moment Katie had toppled out the window, but the fact that Rodeo was still outcast and Owen was tiptoeing around made Gryffindor tower an awkward place to be. Combined with the fact that Draco was stalking the corridors with Professor Snape trying to find answers to what was going on at Hogwarts, emerging from the common room wasn't exactly a fun activity either.

Nearly a week passed in which life gradually returned to normal. Quite suddenly and without a fuss Rodeo merged back into the group as though he'd never been away. Katie was making a star effort at being civil to the boy and the others were very thankful for this fact. Sensing Leshia's life returning to normal Owen finally approached her Saturday at quidditch practice. While she was taking a breather to down a bottle of water Leshia became suddenly very aware of the fact that someone was standing behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Is everything okay now?" Owen asked her quietly, walking up beside her to watch the training unfold before them. Leshia exhaled heavily, blowing the air out while she thought of a way to answer this difficult question.

"Define okay," she finally managed. Owen grinned.

"You know, with your mates."

"Yeah," the girl stated with a shrug. "It all got so bad there for a while Owen. I feel really bad."

"It wasn't your fault though," Owen complained; in his heart he knew this conversation was not going to go the way he wanted.

"No, but it all happened because of something I did." The girl trailed off into silence, wrapping her arms about herself when a chilly wind blew up against the youngsters.

"Where does that leave us?" Owen finally asked.

"I don't know. It's all too complicated. If just one…you know, what happened on Wednesday, well if that was enough to nearly set my friends on self destruct then I dread to think what…I just…I'm sorry." Leshia finally looked up to find Owen smiling at her. He truly admired the girl stood beside him. When you first met Alecia Malfoy she came across as cold, selfish and willing to do anything to get what she wanted, but behind the bravado and the façade was one of the most selfless girls in the school. She had got this from her mother.

To think that Leshia would forego her own happiness for her friends' wellbeing was almost too much for Owen, who wanted to wrap his arms about her shivering form and insist she ignore her petty friends. Leshia would never allow it.

"Me too," Owen finally sighed.

"If things were different," Leshia sighed heavily. "If things weren't so complicated…"

"Well maybe later right?" Owen finally managed to bring some lightness to his tone and he grinned a lopside smile at the short girl at his side. "You know, when you've grown a bit. This would have never worked anyway see?" With this he easily rested his elbow on top of Leshia's head, who was grinning mischievously at the boy. Quite without warning she lunged at him in a play attack and before too long the good friends were laughing away the pain they both felt at having to prematurely end a relationship that might have flourished between them.

Leshia's high spirits restored she really enjoyed the rest of the training, but when she returned to the castle she discovered this was only to be a fleeting sensation. The moment Leshia and her teammates stepped foot in the castle they were bombarded by messages from worried peers. Over the rabble Leshia and her friends could just about make out "Rachel" "Fell" and "Stairs". Without needing to hear the exact message Leshia sprinted off with many of the others hot on her tail. The hospital wing was their destination and before too long they had reached it.

"Hold it," a brusque voice called to them before they could all go piling in. The youngsters spun around to find Professor Malfoy and Professor Snape engaged in a hushed conversation in the shadows.

"Sir is Rachel in there?" Leshia asked with a deep furrow set in her brow. After a grave look had passed between the men Draco nodded. "Well can I go and see her?" the girl demanded next.

"Yes you can, but the rest of you will have to wait out here."

"But sir she's our cousin!" Tom and Luke piped up in unison. Looking as though he very much wanted to roll his eyes Draco nodded and flicked his wrist in the direction of the doors letting them know they too could go in. The three youngsters didn't need telling twice and within seconds they had burst in to find Katie, Rodeo, Parys and Rachel's little sisters Emelia and Hermia gathered around a bed. They weren't speaking, all of them hanging their heads, the two red-haired young girls looking close to tears.

Leshia was between them in moments and when her eyes fell on Rachel's battered form she too felt tears welling. Her best friend was almost unrecognisable amidst the blooded bruises and cuts that littered her face and body. She was out cold, looking so pale behind the injuries she looked to be made of wax.

"Rachel," Leshia whispered and her shoulders drooped down in defeat.

"They don't know if she's going to wake up," Emelia managed, a tear spilling over onto her cheek. Without thinking Leshia wrapped her arm around the young girl's shoulders and pulled her tightly to her side.

"You woke up," Leshia told her brusquely, drawing attention to the fact that Emelia too had suffered an injury similar to this one if it was what Leshia suspected it to be: a stairs related attack. "Now will someone tell me what happened?" It was Katie who explained how Rachel had rushed off during their library session to use the loo, but never came back. Katie and the boys had gone looking for her only to find a screaming gaggle of youngsters surrounding Rachel's battered and unconscious body at the foot of the grey staircase.

"Is Rachel going to die?" Hermia, Rachel's Slytherin highly unpleasant sister asked sounding now a small vulnerable child. Leshia rolled her eyes and wrapped her other arm about the taller girl on her other side.

"No she's not going to die," Leshia said firmly glancing from one worried look to the next. Leshia had not seen the worry on Dumbledore's face when he came to check on Rachel a moment ago. He certainly hadn't seemed convinced of Rachel's odds. Before they could explain this to Leshia the doors to the hospital wing flew open and a very flustered Ron burst in, followed by Draco. They seemed to be arguing.

"Just tell me why this is the second time one of my daughters has been attacked on your watch Malfoy…" Seeing the surprised youngsters Ron fell silent while Draco seethed behind him. Ron scattered the children aside and when his eyes fell on Rachel they too welled up with tears. Hermia and Emelia were at his side within moments, finding him far more comforting than Leshia's brusque attempt to console them. Ron wasn't the only one desperate for answers and after casting Rachel one last wounded look Leshia rushed from her side to Draco's. He wrapped an arm round her shoulders and led her back into the corridor where the anxious pupils were still waiting. Neither father nor daughter heeded them and they walked a little up the corridor to find some privacy.

"Dad do you have any idea what's causing all this?" Leshia asked; not caring that she and Draco were about to discuss something she and the Lions ought to be working on. In the beginning she hadn't wanted Draco's help, but then again, in the beginning Rachel's life hadn't been hanging on by a thread either. Draco sighed heavily sounding very frustrated.

"Very few ideas," he complained darkly. "It doesn't bode well Leshia. If they haven't heard already, just give it time and over the Easter holidays the parent body are going to find out about all these attacks and then the newspapers will find our and then we'll have a very big mess on our hands."

"Will they close the school?" Leshia was very worried.

"If we can't find out what's happened I don't think we have to worry about that, I doubt anyone would come back next year."

"I would," Leshia said with a small smile.

"Yes well we all know you're more foolish than most."

"It's called bravery dad." Draco chuckled. Suddenly though Leshia didn't seem so brave anymore as her face fell.

"Will Rachel be okay?"

"What do you think?" Draco's expression had softened and he wasn't just being difficult, he really was posing the question to his daughter, who shrugged meekly and started scuffing her trainers on the rug.

"I don't know."

"No really, Leshia was do you think?" Draco pressed, raising her fallen chin so he could look her in the eye. They were glassy with tears.

"Yes, I think she'll be fine," the girl finally conceded.

"Well then, stop worrying. She will be fine."

XXX

Rachel stirred heavily in her sleep and opened her eyes to find the sun streaming through the curtains of her bed. She had been given Monday off to recover and now she was out of the hospital wing she had really enjoyed her free time. It had taken the girl nearly twenty-four hours to rouse from her coma and when she did she was quite amazed to find a vast gathering of concerned friends and family standing vigil around her bed. She was then inquisitioned (most frighteningly of all by Draco and Snape in a private interrogation) in which she explained till she was blue in the face that without warning she was tipped down the stairs, crashing about with such force it was as though she'd been shot out of a cannon. Right before the horrible fall she revealed the horrible smell of death had lingered in the air for a split second, not giving her enough time to get away.

Having Gryffindor tower to herself was a treat and after lying in until her stomach started grumbling, Rachel pulled herself from her bed and ambled downstairs to the bathrooms. The common room was deserted and for a moment Rachel felt a little concerned, but shrugging away the cowardly feeling she marched into the girls bathrooms to brush her teeth. Some inconsiderate young ladies had evidently just had showers and not left the windows open the air the room as the whole bathroom was steamed up. Rachel grumbled happily to herself about insensitive upper-years and then started brushing her teeth. The steam was sticky and left Rachel feeling hot and bothered. Her stomach was churning uncomfortably ('Probably the hunger,' Rachel tried to excuse it) and the hairs on her arms and neck were standing on end ('Steam gives you Goosebumps right?'). She was just about getting ready to rush back to the safety of her bed when Rachel became very aware of the fact that she wasn't alone anymore. Trembling from head to toe Rachel looked up into the mirror meeting a pair of dark dark eyes narrowed in evil at her. She recognised that face. She knew who that man was.

Spinning around to confront him Rachel suddenly found herself alone.

"What the…" she barely managed before quite suddenly a wave of stench hit her nose and she slipped onto the floor with force, her head bouncing off the sink on her way down. For the second time in two days Rachel was found out cold. When she awoke many hours later once more in the hospital wing she was too afraid to mention what she had seen and instead pretended she had slipped on the wet floor. She managed to act normally around Leshia through an immense amount of effort, though the blonde girl saw through it somehow, knowing Rachel was hiding something from her. She went to bed that night feeling very concerned for the safety of her friends and wished they could find out what was going on and beat this invisible monster, only to wake a few hours later from a nightmare in which she ran lost through a grey misty wood to find she couldn't breath. A weight was pressing down on her neck as though two powerful hands were wrapped about it.

"Help," the girl wheezed, struggling against an invisible weight on her chest. Her pathetic cry wouldn't have roused even someone sleeping two inches away, let alone her friends across the dormitory. The horrid smell that preceded an attack by the monster stalking them trickled down from the invisible entity choking the air out of poor Leshia. "Help," she cried out once more, but this time no sound escaped. Frozen and unable to make a noise Leshia felt the end was near and for a moment, in complete defiance, she grumbled to herself that this was a very pathetic way to die.

Death though, never came, as quite suddenly her curtains were wrenched open and Katie and Rachel bore down on Leshia, dragging her off the bed away from her invisible attacked that flew the moment the girls appeared. For now it seemed Leshia would survive the night. The girls stayed awake all night long, curled up tightly on Rachel's bed whispering in hushed tones about how they wished they could leave the castle. Whatever this monster was, it was evidently out to get the Gryffindors and if they were being totally honest, the three young ladies were absolutely terrified.

Across the tower in the third year boys dormitory Rodeo woke with a start. His dream had seen him wandering a cool and dark wood, the sounds of a whimpering man's voice haunting through the dark trees. It had been uncomfortable and Rodeo was momentarily glad to have risen from it, but when he felt the steel grip tighten around his neck his blood froze. His eyes shot open to find a cruel and twisted face inches from him while freezing fingers squeezed at his windpipe.

"No!" Rodeo managed hoarsely and he kicked out at the man hovering above him, come to finish him off after he had failed to finish the job many weeks ago now in the woods. The boy didn't have time to think; instead he struggled wildly against the solid grasp of the teacher sat on top of him. Furious that he was going to be wiped out in his bed Rodeo managed one last powerful shove and managed to upend his attacked. Within moments Rodeo was on his feet and he just about caught his attacker's eye before quite suddenly the man was gone.

After waking Parys up in a state this left two dormitories in Gryffindor tower wide awake throughout the night too frightened to blink, let alone consider returning to sleep.

XXX

The Blue Lions watched each other across their circle with matching expressions. Nobody had experienced a good night's sleep, with strange nightmares, headaches and experiences keeping them all awake throughout the night. Leshia and Rodeo's experiences were unique in that they were the only ones who had actually been attacked and when they recounted their chilling tales the group fell silent.

"This is getting serious," Luke Weasley finally announced darkly.

"It's like it's stuck in Gryffindor tower," Ashley complained weakly, her large eyes creased in concern. "That's three attacks in the space of one day."

"Stuck? Or sent?" Leshia countered with a serious expression. "We seem to be catching the brunt of all these attacks." The group fell silent, agreeing with Leshia on that matter.

"Where does it go?" Katie suddenly asked quietly. "I mean surely if it's in the tower we'd be able to sense it…"

"And smell it," Rachel cut in in an undertone.

"It can't be in the tower all the time." Rodeo looked up with dark eyes, wanting to explain what he thought on the matter, wanting to truly reveal every detail of his story. He had not mentioned who he had seen.

"Maybe whoever it is has other stuff to do during the day," the boy suggested, earning some very strange stares.

"Whoever?" Rachel finally asked.

"Rodeo what are you hiding?" Leshia demanded.

"I just…last night." The boy was shaking and it was a sign of how frightening and serious the matter was that nobody laughed at him for it. "Well I saw him again. I saw him hovering right over me, strangling me! He was there!" While most of the youngsters were entirely in the blue about who Rodeo was talking about, his closest friends knew what he meant. Leshia's face went so pale and cruel Rachel and Katie shuffled away from her.

"You saw my dad strangling you?" she finally repeated spitefully, ignoring the shocked expressions on the group's faces at her statement. Rodeo nodded quickly.

"It was him Leesh."

"So my dad tried to strangle me too? Is that it?" The boy opened his mouth several times to speak, but then shut it once more and shook his head, not sure how to respond to this question. Without another word Leshia climbed to her feet and headed straight for the door the air almost bending around her such was her anger.

"Leesh it's not safe!" Rachel called after the girl, who paused momentarily at the door before she stalked back to the group. Had any thought she was going to listen to her friend's sensible advice they would have been very wrong.

"Let me tell you Rodeo Holsson," the girl seethed, pointing an accusing finger at the boy. "If my dad were trying to kill you, you can damn well believe he would have succeeded by now!" With this she stalked out properly this time, leaving the youngsters silently watching the door in her wake.

"I believe you," Rachel finally whispered breaking the silence with her shocking revelation.

"What?" Katie alone demanded. "You think Leshia's dad is trying to kill everyone?" In the face of such loyalty to Leshia Rachel shrunk away and hugged her arms about herself.

"No I don't think it's Draco, but yesterday when it was just me in the bathroom. Well…I saw him in the mirror." The group remained deadly silent, each with a creeping feeling of dread. "When I turned around he wasn't there. So no, I don't think its Draco, but what if it's a demon that can shape shift?"

The group discussed the possibility until their stomachs started to grumble. It was time to go for dinner, but before they could leave Rachel planted herself in front of the door.

"Promise me, each and every one of you, that you won't tell Leshia about what I said!"

XXX

Leshia was furious. How _dare_ Rodeo accuse her father of trying to kill everybody! What hurt possibly more than the boy's revelation that he thought Draco was a homicidal maniac, was that Rodeo felt him capable of killing his own daughter.

"Well that just proves what a retard he is," Leshia hissed loudly. She could have carried on her angry rant at the boy had strange presence behind her not brought her to a halt on her aimless angry walk. Spinning on heal Leshia was ready to take on even the monster itself, but there was no need. "What do _you_ want?"

Julius Black looked from Leshia's face to her white knuckles, tightly balled into fists. The girl had been wound up, but by who and why he had not the right to ask her.

"Something the matter Malfoy?" he finally asked with an enigmatic smile. His eyes remained cold.

"What makes you think I would ever tell you?" Leshia spat back angrily. "Oh just go away! I've got enough on my plate without having to worry about what's going on in your mind!" Leshia looked all set on storming off again leaving Julius back frowning after her in slight concern. Again he was going to have to try and make her see.

"All that time you've been pouring through library books," he said softly. Leshia stopped in her tracks and stared at her feet. If she were a cat her ears would have been pinned back, listening intently to Julius' words. "It won't help you. Whatever it is your looking for, you won't find it in a library book. The answer is however, in a book in the library." Leshia hung her head even lower at his curious statement and only after she managed an extremely exasperated sigh before she stormed off again, this time heading back to Gryffindor Tower to seek solace in the privacy of her bed curtains away from everyone else.

"Password?" the portrait demanded stoutly when Leshia reached its side.

"Frog guts," Leshia grumbled and on demand the portrait swung open to reveal an unusually dark passageway beyond. A wall of terror and stench hit Leshia, but steadying her shoulders she looked deeply into the gloom, ready to take on the creature inside, desperate to clear her father's name.

Quite suddenly the presence disappeared from her mind and after wondering what had scared it off Leshia jumped when a firm hand snaked onto Leshia's shoulder. With a slight gasp she spun around to find her father staring past her into the depths of the passageway, a strange furrow set into his brow. The presence had well and truly gone, but Draco too had felt it.

"Dad!" Leshia exclaimed with an emotionality she hadn't realised was bubbling close to the surface right behind her anger. Quite suddenly she hugged her father roughly about the chest, a hug he returned.

"Something you want to tell me Leshia?" Draco finally asked. Leshia thought of all that had happened, of everything that had been said and done…she couldn't tell.

"No," she lied.

"Aren't you hungry? Dinner started ten minutes ago," Draco next asked, ignoring Leshia's lies, which he had sensed without his vague powers of Legilimensy.

"I think I might just go to bed, I'm feeling really tired." The look Draco cast her as Leshia stepped unsurely into the empty common room was one of intense thought. His mind was whirring, evidently about the strange phenomenon that had happened moments earlier, but also thoughts about his daughter's secrecy. He'd always known she and her friends would be looking into it and yet he had no idea how far along they were. Did they know more than he? Leshia was playing her cards very close to her chest and gave nothing away other than the fact that someone had upset her.

With a sharp intake of breath Draco stalked away; there was much to be done.

XXX

The weeks passed and the murderous presence did not return. Whatever had happened at the passageway between Leshia and spirit, it had retreated from Gryffindor Tower and indeed Hogwarts itself. The strange rumours stopped dribbling back to the Blue Lions, who were able to relax into a normal pace of life once more. The big fight that seen Leshia storming off was not revisited in conversation; not even by Leshia, Katie and Rachel, who instead tried to get on with things.

The Easter holidays were upon them in no time and on the last day of term the Blue Lions decided to meet to go over the term's events. Many of them had started walking about with a false sense of security that everything was all well and good; they needed reminding about the horrors that had been inflicted upon the pupils of Hogwarts all term.

"I don't expect anything to happen at home, but we should all be vigilant to keep our ears open for any news," Katie told the group as they climbed to their feet all set to get going. The train was due to depart in an hour's time and many hadn't finished packing yet. Rodeo met Leshia's eyes, a secret passion suddenly making him cross the room to her side.

"What?" Leshia asked him darkly.

"You should watch your back okay?" he told her, sounding pained. Leshia narrowed her eyes at him.

"What? At home?" Rodeo nodded jerkily.

"I'll know you'll hate me for saying it. I would never forgive myself though if something happened to you and I didn't…"

"You _stupid _muggle!" Everyone stared in shock at the venomous expression on Leshia's face as she expressed such cruel sentiments. Rodeo's face instantly turned to a wounded look, but before anyone could say anything Leshia stormed from the room a second time.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about!" she grumbled, feeling tears of shame tingling her eyes. Why did Rodeo have to insult her family so? Why couldn't he just leave them be? With more pain than she would admit Leshia sprinted up the grand winding staircase, not really sure where she was going, just knowing she had to get away.

"No…" Leshia stopped quite suddenly, stumbling up a step or two.

"Dad?" she called out worriedly into the darkened corridor branching off from the staircase.

"No! You can't tell them!" the disembodied voice now sounded from Leshia's voice. "This isn't the way! Don't tell them! I can't let you tell them!" The voice was getting fainter, drifting down stairwell.

"Wait!" Leshia cried out and she rushed forward to the banister looking down the steep drop to find the source of her father's pained voice. "Dad?"

Quite suddenly, and without precursory warnings, Leshia was falling.

XXX

End of part 12. Sorry it's been so long for me to post, and sorry if it's rushed, when I wrote my plan I always knew this end bit would be a bit long. Only a few chapters left!!

Hope you all enjoy it :)


	13. Part Thirteen

**Generations: the Blue Lions**

Part XIII

A strange sound brought Leshia from her slumber. It was a wheezing sound, almost like the sound of Philly, her cat, snoring. She lay in darkness, wondering which way was up, unable to move. The girl had not the will power to panic; her mind was far too sleepy. Whatever had happened, she was sure she wasn't dead and that was the important thing. Very hazily Leshia tried to remember what had happened to land her in this position. She was finding it very difficult to recall anything in detail. She knew she was at school, but what year…and what house? How peculiar, even the faces of her parents were eluding her.

Now that certainly wasn't good. With a fed up mental huff Leshia struggled against her blindness, trying to remember how to open her eyes. It took her an immense amount of effort, but finally clouded light spread across her field of vision in two thin slits. The wider she opened her eyes the more Leshia began to worry at last; she had not a clue where she was or who these people standing over her were. And what was that strange leather like bubble surrounding her nose and mouth; pumping with every breath she took. At least it revealed the sound of the wheezing.

Whoever those people in their strange green robes were, they were very worried. A flurry of movement broke out the moment Leshia opened her eyes, and finally two faces the girl recognised parted the green-robed strangers.

'Oh yeah, that's what they look like,' the girl thought lazily, feeling immediately calmed at the appearance of her parents. Though she wasn't used to seeing them so grave, nor so concerned, she was happy to make a little sense of the nightmare she had woken up in.

"Can she hear us?" her mother was asking a particularly old and grisly green-robed man. He wore tiny round spectacles, though they were barely visible beneath his mop of frizzy white hair.

"It is unlikely. We are still trying to ascertain the extent of the brain damage. I'm sorry Mrs Malfoy, but it will be a while yet before we know anything concrete."

'Of course I can hear you. I'm not deaf,' Leshia wanted very much to say indignantly, but she had entirely forgotten how to speak.

"When can she come off the life support?" her father next asked. The grisly healer looked now to Draco's drawn face and shook his head.

"At the moment it is a more a matter of _if_, not when Mr Malfoy," he replied gravely.

"I see." Hermione dropped her face into her hand and her shoulders trembled, while Draco sat down on the edge of the bed. Leshia fought her very hardest to follow him with her gaze. "She's watching me," Draco spoke suddenly to the healer. "Surely that means something?" Hermione now looked up and sat down quickly at Draco's side.

"Darling if you can hear us, please baby please look to your left," Hermione pleaded with her daughter.

'Oh do I have to?' Leshia grumbled to her private audience. 'This is all so stupid!' The fear in her mother's face was enough of an incentive to respond though and with a tremendous amount of effort the girl complied, her eyes moving jerkily to a concerned looking young woman in green robes stood beside the other side of her bed.

"There!" Hermione exclaimed with a huge smile, standing up to face the healer. "That proves it. She _can_ hear us!"

"Are you in any pain?" Draco asked, sounding miserable and pathetic. The fact that for the umpteenth time he had failed to keep his daughter safe was beginning to snake cracks through his already vulnerable heart. His chest had felt so tight when he heard word that Leshia had been transported to St Mongo's in such a deathly state she wasn't breathing anymore he was sure he was about to experience a heart attack. Only Hermione's calm level-headedness saved him. How the girl had survived falling headlong over the banisters from the seventh floor was beyond him, and whether she would make it through the day was questionable, but for now Draco was holding it together. He had to, Hermione had rather broken down since her calm and determined act from earlier, and the last thing he wanted was for her and the new baby to be in jeopardy as well. Draco Malfoy had to remain strong.

"You have to give her options," Hermione said gently. "Leshia if you're in pain look at me, if you're not look at your father." Feeling very fed up with this game Leshia turned her tired eyes onto her father's face, where they remained. The momentary smile that graced his tired face was soothing to the girl who started suddenly to feel very heavy. Sleep was claiming her once more and though she tried to fight it, her eyelids were drooping until finally they were closed, her thick eyelashes fluttering against her face.

XXX

The next time Leshia awoke she was in a large and dark ward, cut off from most of the room by a heavy curtain. At her side her parents slept, curled up on two seats, leaning against one another for support. They looked exhausted, but there was a small smile on Hermione's face that had not left it since she found out Leshia had once again made it back from the brink of oblivion. It had in fact, been Leshia's closest meeting with death yet, as she would enjoy boasting about much later on when she told horrified friends that she had actually died for a few brief moments.

"Mum, dad," Leshia croaked quietly, but her alert parents jolted awake at the sound of her voice within the second.

"Darling!" Hermione soothed and she descended on Leshia as though she had thought she would never see her again; which indeed she had, for a brief moment when she saw Leshia attached to the various spells and mechanisms the healers had described as a 'life support system'. The girl owed that curious leather gizmo round her mouth and nose from earlier a lot more than the lazy curiosity she had offered it in her stupor; she owed I her life.

"What happened? Where am I?" the girl asked, trying to pull herself up in bed; everything hurt.

"You're in the hospital," Draco replied, while he walked round to Leshia's other side and helped her sit up. "As to what happened, we don't know. You fell from the seventh floor down to the base of the grand staircase." Leshia's eyes went wide.

"I did?"

"You most certainly did, half the school can attest to that," Hermione sighed and she shut her eyes tightly, imagining the horror of seeing the impact.

"I don't remember it," Leshia finally managed sounding very shocked.

"That's not surprising," Draco replied gently. "You suffered severe brain damage. You might be a bit shaky for week or so."

"Will I be okay though?" Leshia looked up at her father with a face creased in concern. He smiled and nodded.

"Good as new by the end of the holidays," he replied sounding more gentle than ever she had heard him. The horrors the day had brought had left no room in Draco's mind for negative feelings. He couldn't even muster the negativity for his usually brusque nature. All he wanted to do was smile and yell from the rooftops that Leshia was going to be okay.

"Will I have to stay here long?" Leshia next asked worriedly.

"Only a few days darling," Hermione replied, stroking down her daughter's messy curls. "And we'll stay here the whole time."

"_We_ most certainly will not," Draco countered firmly, though he was smiling. "_I'll_ stay with Leshia, you should go home and rest."

"I'm not leaving her…"

"Guys," Leshia interrupted seeing a clash of her parents' stubbornness was imminent. "I'm really just very tired. You should both go home. Come back in the morning."

"But…" they both began.

"You have to let people know I'm fine. I bet Rachel and Katie are having kittens. Please, I'm just going to be asleep anyway." Hermione and Draco took a lot more persuading, but they did eventually agree to go home for a few hours and return in the morning. After they had gone Leshia felt a little bad; she had lied to them. She wasn't tired at all and now they were gone she was a little afraid of everyone else she was sharing the ward with. A matron had come and pulled the curtains back now Hermione and Draco were gone so Leshia could monitored and this allowed the fourteen-year-old to see everyone else in the 'Repaired Brains' ward. None of them were children and most looked as though they had lost a lot of mental capacity in whatever accidents had led them to needing their brains to be put back together again. Even asleep they were acting bizarrely; one woman for example kept continuously sitting up and lying down. It looked terrifically exhausting. While another seemed to be stuck in a perpetual dream walk, never allowing her legs to cease on their endless walk to nowhere. Leshia felt it was a very good thing she was strapped to the bed.

The only other occupant in the room awake was Leshia's immediate neighbour to her right, an old man sitting straight up in bed with wide eyes. He looked both terrified and terrifying all in one. Nervously Leshia lifted her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"Do you see them too?" the man managed in a sound barely louder than a whisper. Leshia shook her head quickly.

"See what?"

"The lights." Slowly turning his head to look at Leshia the man suddenly darted back and a few tears trickled out of his wide eyes. "They're all around you."

"What are you talking about?" Leshia demanded as the hairs on her arms and neck rose up. "I don't see anything." The man seemed too frightened to move. "Talk to me? Hello?"

"They're all around you," he cried, getting so flustered the matron was lured out from her comfy seat in the healers' quarters where she had propped her feet up to enjoy a battered copy of Witch Weekly.

"Shush Warren," she soothed sounding anything but soothing.

"But they're everywhere, they're all over that girl. What is she? What is she?" the man known as Warren was now so distressed Matron took out her wand and pulled the curtain around the man's bed. When she reopened them moments later he was sleeping, still sat up in bed, the only indication he had been coaxed to sleep the fact that his head was hanging and light snores were escaping him.

"Go back to bed Miss Malfoy, he won't trouble you again," the Matron told Leshia in the same tone, her attempt at bedside manner evidently.

"But what…"

"Sleep girl, your body needs it." With this the large matron stomped out leaving Leshia looking at the sleeping form of Warren with mixed emotions. Turning her back on the mad man Leshia rolled over and hugged her knees close to her chest, pulling the duvet over her head and wishing more than anything that she was home.

Warren's words would not leave her mind. What had he meant? And why had the hairs stood up so on her arms and neck. Surely he wasn't just insane? Surely there was method to his madness. After half an hour of jumping every time someone walked past the ward Leshia had had enough and very sorely she climbed out of the bed and crept over to the door. A bright sparsely crowded corridor lay beyond the ward, with healers and matrons occasionally passing in the distance. The healers' quarters were obvious due to the warm light creeping out of an archway not far from Leshia's ward.

As she got near the sound of a warbling witch met Leshia's ears coming from an ageing gramophone and when she finally reached the archway she looked onto a pleasantly arranged room for the matrons and healers who had to mind the night shifts. Matron herself was sat in the corner with a large biscuit, mid-dunk into a steaming cup of tea. Her attention was entirely enraptured by the fascinating article about a new potion invented to get rid of love handles. Of course it was all just a scam and the ingredients required for the potion could only be bought from the organisation that developed it, but Matron had always been very gullible.

"Excuse me?" Leshia called out from the doorway. Matron looked up in surprise.

"Go back to bed Miss Malfoy!" the round woman ordered firmly.

"I can't sleep. Not till I know what that Warren guy was on about." Matron narrowed her eyes at the girl and climbed to her feet towering a massive height above the youngster by the door. Squaring herself up for a lecture the Matron was about to break out when Leshia pulled off her most vulnerable expression that could melt even hearts of stone. "Please?" With a heavy groan Matron sat down again and indicated a rickety chair for Leshia to sit down on, which the girl did within seconds.

"Warren suffers from a condition known as Duivel Syndrome," Matron explained.

"Sounds foreign," Leshia interrupted, but quickly regretted it when Matron's eyes went wide in warning. "Sorry, I won't interrupt again."

"No you won't or I shan't tell you." As if daring the child to interrupt again Matron paused, but Leshia stayed quiet this time. "It _is_ a foreign condition, or at least it was discovered by a Witch from South Africa. Translated it means 'Devil Syndrome'." Matron paused to take a bite out of her now-soggy biscuit. With an immense amount of patience that Leshia didn't really possess, the girl remained silent while the round woman ate.

"This syndrome has confused healers for decades. We still don't know whether it is a mental disorder that refuses to cow to conventional hallucinatory treatments and spells, or whether there really are such things as Devils and the syndrome is just a sixth sense."

"What are these devils? Can he actually see them?" Leshia asked, forgetting about the not-interrupting rule. Matron didn't mind this time.

"Warren sees them as energy, as lights if you will. They terrify them. We believe he perceives a sense of true evil from them."

"He said they were all over me…" Leshia trailed off and hugged herself close. Matron seemed sympathetic.

"Don't you worry Miss Malfoy, he says that to everyone. These devils, according to the sufferers of Duivel Syndrome, cause the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end and often contributes to the feelings of dread that strike people of a weaker disposition." This all sounded very familiar to Leshia, who quickly glanced up at the Matron and frowned heavily. Could there really be Devils at Hogwarts, Devils turned violent?

"Can they…can they hurt people?" the girl asked. Matron smiled.

"No, don't worry. They pass through people as though we were air. They can't hurt you. They're only hurting poor Warren." The Matron seemed genuinely concerned for the poor man and Leshia softened towards her.

"Why is he in there with us? What happened to him?" the girl asked.

"He tried to put a spell on his own mind to stop him from seeing the lights, nearly roasted his retinas." Leshia shuddered. "Now then, I believe you should get back to bed young lady, your mother will not be pleased if she hears you were up all night. You should be resting. Getting over that terrible accident of yours isn't going to happen in one day. You're going to have to take it easy."

XXX

Leshia did take it easy; she wasn't really given much choice on the matter. The day she was discharged from St Mungos Hermione had actually driven their old Muggle car to the hospital where Draco had not moved from Leshia's side as he promised since his return that first morning. Three days had since passed and the concerned parents weren't risking any form of magical transportation to get Leshia home where she belonged. A wheelchair served to take the weak girl from her bed to the car and once they had crossed the city to Dock Street where the Malfoy family home lay warm and waiting for the invalid, Draco carried a severely bemused Leshia to the muggle room.

Hermione had prepared Leshia's favourite room in the house for her arrival. She had set up a bed on the comfiest of settees fitted with all the refreshments Leshia could possibly need and a bell she could ring that was magically enchanted to reach Hermione and Draco's ears even if they were to be halfway around the world. Leshia was grateful for the creature comforts for the first ten minutes, but soon afterwards the cabin fever set in. She had been waiting days to catch up with her friends and share with them what had happened, but for love nor money, Draco and Hermione were not letting Leshia off the settee. The occasional break to attend the toilet was the only freedom she was granted away from their concerned gazes.

"But why can't they come _here_ to see me?" Leshia demanded after a whole morning of such moddy coddling.

"Your physician told us you aren't supposed to overexert yourself for a few more days," Hermione replied from her position on the other comfortable settee, where she had nestled into an impressive array of cushions with her books and scrolls. She was becoming quite impossibly large now Leshia often felt worriedly. Now she had plenty of time to observe her mother she realised her new sibling didn't have much time left inside their mother's womb and the thought of it always left her with a slightly sick feeling in her mouth and a fluttering in her chest.

"Yeah so? Having Katie and Rachel round isn't exactly overexerting myself is it?" Leshia grumbled, looking away from her mother's baby bump where the interloper was growing strongly and steadily. Hermione laughed warmly and beamed at her daughter.

"Are you joking sweetheart? No doubt they would want to hear the whole horrific story straight from the horse's mouth, you would soon find yourselves embroiled in some adventurous plot or other and before we knew it you'd be off on some quest or other. So no Leshia, your friends can't come round yet."

"But mum I'm so bored!"

"How can you be bored? We bought you those muggle DVDs of your favourite programme. There's hours of entertainment on them." Leshia eyed the muggle cartoon video set cantankerously. Yes she would normally have been thrilled at the sight of the thoughtful gift from her parents – especially as Leshia knew they didn't really approve of the outrageous cartoon – but for some reason the sight of them now merely fuelled Leshia's tetchiness.

"But what if I don't want to watch TV? I want to see my friends." Hermione's brow crinkled in sympathy, but there was no way she was budging on this matter. She had never come so close to losing her precious firstborn; she would be taking no more chances when it came so her safety.

"Leshia I said no."

"What's going on?" The sparring mother and daughter looked up to see Draco walk in with a book in hand and a brusque expression on his face. He'd been lured in from his study by the raised voices and was now eyeing Leshia warningly; the girl had to know her parents meant it when they said she would find herself bed-ridden for a few days.

"Nothing's going on, that's the whole point," Leshia complained furiously, kicking at the coffee table angrily. Draco's eyes flew momentarily to his wife's who seemed a bit flustered herself.

"Leshia I know it's going to be hard for you to take it easy," Draco finally spoke calmly. "But it's either our way or we'll be forced to take you back to St Mongos." Draco's word was final and though Leshia argued till she started to get short of breath, they didn't budge on the matter.

Her time imprisoned in her once favourite room of the house allowed the girl plenty of time to ponder what had happened over the last two terms. Leshia was sure Draco was no closer to solving the mystery than the Lions were, which meant either he was losing his touch or the situation was very serious indeed. The girl was so convinced of her father's implacable strength she knew he could never lose his touch, if anything he was getting more powerful and gifted with age, so that left only one alternative, which didn't bode well for the future of Hogwarts.

After four days Hermione finally deigned Leshia well enough to go down to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Katie and Rachel. Easter was nearly upon them and despite her regular bouts of complaining at the unfairness of it all, Leshia hadn't tried to escape once. She deserved a treat.

The sun had been basking London in a delicious spring warmth for days now and so when Leshia finally stepped out with her parents for the first time in a week the weather rose up to the occasion. Hermione stayed very close to her daughter as the youngster skipped ahead, often having to place a protective hand on her shoulder to calm her down, but finally they reached the Cauldron.

Katie and Rachel had been so concerned for Leshia they in turn had needed to be severely restrained from charging round the Malfoys' and demanding to see their fallen friend. The moment they saw the girl enter the pub they crossed it within seconds and hugged Leshia with such might the girl winced.

"Easy girls," Hermione warned her daughter's best friends fondly. "She's not out the woods yet. You're all going to have to take it easy." The three girls eyed her with the mischief they were known for, before they claimed a quiet booth away from the rest of the packed pub. Hermione left her to it, but kept a surreptitious eye on her daughter from her place at the 'parents' table.

"Sweetheart she's not going to spontaneously combust," Draco chuckled when he noticed Hermione's concern. She turned an indignant expression on her husband.

"This coming from the man who didn't want to Leshia come out."

"I had no problems with letting her out," Draco countered fondly. "I just didn't think that a smoky packed pub was the best place to take someone who's just recovered from a major trauma. She can barely get up the stairs without getting out of breath."

"She's not the only one," Hermione grumbled, rubbing her bump with a fond frown. She didn't remember ever being this big when she was pregnant with Leshia. Then again, it had been so long ago and she still a teenager, things were bound to be different this time around.

"I was going to say, you're looking enormous!" Ron piped up happily.

"Thank you Ronald."

"When are you due Hermione?" Ginny asked sounding more than a little jealous; life had seemed so much simpler when her children were little babies free of dangerous adventures and turbulent emotions.

"Early July."

"So long still? Are you sure there's not two in there?" Draco momentarily choked on his drink and turned on his wife with a very wide-eyed questioning look that elicited warm-hearted laughter from his wife.

"Very certain. While we were at St Mungos with Leshia I went to the Obstetrics ward where they checked me over. There's just _one_ healthy baby in there."

"A healthy girl baby or a boy?"

"Argh what's with all the tea party talk?" Draco grumbled, interrupting the two women before they had a chance to really get going. He had been artfully avoiding these sorts of discussions since it became public knowledge that Hermione was expecting again, seeing as it seemed that whenever Hermione and any other woman got together these sorts of discussions got going.

"Aren't you excited Draco?" Ginny asked teasingly. "Looking forward to the birth and all that?" Draco glowered at her.

"I'm looking forward to breaking open that case of fine Cuban cigars I've been saving for the right occasion."

"Hear hear!" Harry and Ron chimed in simultaneously.

"Aside from the fact that you two don't even like cigars," Ginny cut in, smiling fondly at her husband and brother. "I know you're lying Draco."

"Oh really. And how do you know that?"

"I bet you can't wait to meet this new baby."

"What's there to get excited about? It's a baby!" Draco complained. He quickly furrowed his brow worriedly when he saw the look of intense hurt materialise on his wife's face. 'What?' he quickly mouthed.

"You adored Leshia when she was a baby. Why will this time be any different?"

"I adored her the odd occasion when she was asleep. The rest of the time she was either making a lot of noise or being sick all over my best suits. Then she started walking and we spent most of our waking hours looking for the little blighter after she'd done the disappearing act for the hundredth time."

"So when did you actually start liking being a father?" Hermione asked and the wounded expression hadn't left her face. Draco tried to soften her hostility with a charming smile.

"I never said I didn't like being a father, all I'm saying is there's not much to look forward to at the beginning. You spend every waking moment trying to see to its needs, which you have to work out from a very limited repertoire of sounds." His words were confirming Hermione's worst fears; that he wouldn't enjoy being a father a second time round, but time to debate this new issue the parents never got, as across the pub a commotion had roared up.

"Is it true Miss Malfoy?"

"Were you assaulted by the Hogwarts Monster?"

"What did it look like?"

These snippets of hurried demands were interrupted by the occasional flash of a camera bulb and before the pushy journalists could get a response out of the frightened girls they had descended on they were pushed aside by a gaggle of protective parents.

"Ah here are the parents!" a tall wiry journalist suddenly exclaimed excitedly. He had a wire-thin moustache that curled up into elaborate bows and his hair was slicked back with what looked like shoe polish it was so dark.

"Mrs Malfoy how did you feel when you heard your daughter had been pushed from the rafters by a homicidal monster?"

"How long was it that she was clinically dead?"

"Enough," Draco exclaimed so forcefully the journalists stopped jabbering and their magic quills and cameras turned on him.

"You will find no story here. There _is_ no story. Where did you hear such rubbish?" His sensible words were lost on the crazed writers who, seeing they wouldn't get a word out of the frightening ex-Death Eater turned their sights on the impressionable girls.

"Were you scared Leshia, when you found yourself falling?" Leshia though glanced to her father, who shook his head brusquely; ordering her not to say a word. Rachel received no such message.

"Leshia doesn't get scared!" the girl stated indignantly.

"Yeah, it's not like this is the first time she's been in hospital either," Katie added.

"Come on," Draco spoke up again. "We're leaving."

"But dad we just got here," Leshia complained. Her complaints fell on deaf ears and quite unceremoniously she was yanked from her chair. Her friends quickly followed, making their way through the crowds of ravenous press to the sunny street beyond. Luckily they didn't follow as soon as the family and friends stepped out into the street full of Muggles.

"How did they find out?" Leshia asked Draco, still very indignant her first sojourn into the real world again had been cut so short, though not indignant enough to kick up a fuss; it would seem her friends were following them home, which would suit her fine.

"I don't know."

"Is it bad?" Leshia next asked. Draco remained silent.

"Yes darling," Hermione now cut in with a comforting smile. "It's very bad."

XXX

**Monster On the Loose at Hogwarts!**_  
An unidentified monster is on the loose at Hogwarts Castle! Are our children still safe? Following a tip-off that revealed a young female student had plummeted to her death after being pushed from the rafters above the Great Hall by the monster itself, a throng of stories has emerged about some rather unsavoury goings on at the Castle this year. Albus Dumbledore and his teachers have been keeping very quiet about the whole matter, and all their attempts to identify and capture the beast have gone in vein.__  
The Monster's latest victim is none other than a teacher's daughter, which may explain why her horrific fall hasn't been publicized before now.__** Alecia Malfoy**__ was thankfully revived in St Mungos after her terrible accident and seems to be making a full recovery. She is the daughter of the famous couple __**Draco Malfoy**__ and __**Hermione Granger**__, who played a large part in the defeat of Voldemort at the Battle of the Ages. Have they fallen so from Grace that they cannot now even keep their own child from harm's way?  
When we caught up with the family of three little Alecia was back on form catching up with her best friends at the Leaky Cauldron. The girl was in high spirits and had this to say about her attack,_  
"_I never get scared! I'm in and out of hospital all the time so I'm used to it."  
Though she may be approaching it so flippantly, we here at the Daily Prophet are worried for the hundreds of children at Hogwarts. This isn't the first time something like this has happened… Turn to Page 5._

The article remained pinned to the Malfoy's fridge for days, until finally Leshia tore it down in an angry fit. The nerve of those blood thirsty reporters! Leshia had endured a throng of owls baring letters mocking her so called vanity and after the third day she'd had enough. Hermione and Draco were amused by the paper and had pinned it up to mark Leshia's first mention in a National Publication, but the girl was too spitting furious to see the funny side.

The more serious implications the article had wrought were anything but funny. Every day new stories about the incompetence of Albus Dumbledore and his greatest allies Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy were vicious and spreading fast and Hermione sat down one evening and had a long chat with Leshia that some of her friends might not return after the holidays. This upset Leshia, but spurned her on to find out what was terrorising the school so she and the Lions could put a stop to it.

Easter Sunday was held at Potter Manor and was such a light hearted and entertaining affair that nobody had the inclination to bring up the national scandal that was Hogwarts. Indeed, the whole second week of the holidays was a bit of light-hearted relief that was sorely needed by all, but it was over far too soon. Before anyone knew it they were all boarding the Hogwarts Express to make the long journey North. The train seemed a lot less packed than it usually did, but had the girls thought it wasn't going to affect them they were sorely mistaken. After only ten minutes underway the door to their cabin was suddenly wrenched open by two very hyperactive young men.

"Parys!" Leshia complained happily when the boy practically squashed the breath out of her in a bear hug.

"We're just so happy you're okay Malfoy!" Parys exclaimed loudly into her ear.

"Parys that was two weeks ago, get off me you lump." After the tall boy climbed off Leshia she met eyes with Rodeo. She had been thinking about him a lot over Easter and had managed to quite successfully go two weeks without responding to his endless letters and muggle phone calls. He was distraught that she had taken such offence to him that she would ignore him so cruelly, but he had really hurt Leshia. By calling her father a merciless killer he had effectively closed her heart to him and she hadn't been ready to forgive him yet. At the sight of him so distraught at the doorway any negative emotions towards him that Leshia might have been harbouring flew out of her head. With a small nod and a smile, he was finally forgiven. The relief that flooded his face brought a smile to everyone's faces; all except Katie, who still couldn't look him in the eye without wishing all manner of nasty things to happen to him.

The boys quickly made themselves comfortable before Rodeo finally spurted out what he had been wanting to say the moment he walked in.

"Mila's looking for you," he told Leshia in a very poor attempt at casualness.

"And why's that?"

"To discuss emergency quidditch training."

"Rodeo stop beating about the bush and get it off your chest. Why do we need emergency quidditch training, we're only playing Hufflepuff. We could win that without any chasers or beaters! All you'd need is a keeper and a seeker. They're rubbish," Leshia boasted giddily.

"Well that's just it. You're going to have to do without your keeper I'm afraid." Leshia's smile instantly dropped.

"What's happened to Owen?" she demanded icily, causing the smile on Rodeo's face to falter. He really ought to have attempted some tact Parys felt at his side.

"His parents aren't letting him come back to school until this whole monster thing blows over," Rodeo explained. Leshia felt as though the wind was knocked from her lungs. No Owen indefinitely? The girl remained in silence while Rachel and Katie objected to this injustice on her behalf.

"Don't worry Leesh, I'm sure he'll talk some sense into them," Parys finally interrupted their tirade, slouching down low so his eyes were level with Leshia's. His attempts to cheer the girl up blatantly flew in the face of Rodeo's feelings for her, but he was too happy at this run of luck to care. Owen Gabriel wasn't coming back to Hogwarts this term; nothing would be able to wipe the smile of Rodeo's face!

"As soon as we get to the castle we'll have to hold a Lions meeting to see if anyone felt anything strange over the holidays," Katie announced.

"I bet you my whole collection of quidditch figurines that nobody felt a thing," Leshia spoke firmly. "In fact, I'll throw in my signed England jersey, that's how sure I am."

"Do you still have that?" Rachel now sniggered gleefully. "I mean didn't you get that when we were like eight?"

"Yeah, and you slept in it every night! Hasn't it disintegrated by now?" Katie added gleefully.

"I'll have you know I still sleep in that jersey and it's as good as new."

"You sleep in a quidditch jersey?" Rodeo laughed incredulously.

"Correction, a six-year-old quidditch jersey!" Rachel cut in raucously.

"Well what would you have me wear? Satin pyjamas?" Leshia giggled, but soon stopped when she saw Rodeo seriously considering it for a moment. "In my defence," she quickly carried on light-heartedly. "It is signed by the whole of the England team who won the World Cup of 2010. It's probably worth a fortune."

"And you sleep in it?" Parys asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah well it's comfy. Anyway! Enough about me, Rachel sleeps in her granny's mangy old nightie!"

"Hey!" Rachel cried out when the cabin's mocking laughs turned on her now instead. She found herself defending the cosiness of Grandma Weasley's snugly nightie for most of the journey. She was blue in the face from arguing so much when the boys slinked off sniggering to themselves in order to get ready to gather their things together. Darkness had fallen and they were nearing Hogwarts; they could all feel it in their bones.

Sure enough, twenty minutes later the third years found themselves disembarking with the rest of their peers to head up to the carriages. Leshia was having such a good time laughing at Rachel that she didn't notice the foul stench of the Slytherins until they stumbled across them on the path leading up to the road.

"Hello blood traitor!" Allseyer's sharp and harsh voice cut through the girl's laughter like a knife. Leshia turned an amused expression on him.

"Hello big nose," she replied cheerfully. Allseyer didn't even bristle.

"Saw your interview in the Prophet last week. Fearless eh? That's not what you were saying last year when we beat the stuffing out of you. Begging for your life if I recall." Leshia lost her smile and glared fiercely at the boy.

"So were you when you came face to face with a harmless little grass snake," she countered to the cackling laughter of her friends. Allseyer didn't even flinch.

"Your time's running out blood traitor. Have you noticed how your allies have already started dropping like flies at the whisper of trouble? You haven't seen anything yet!" With this the Slytherins sauntered off with the bravado their privileged backgrounds had imprinted on them leaving Leshia scowling after them. She would have stormed after the pointy-faced cretin had a certain dark haired brooding young fellow not stormed past her and shoved her shoulder roughly.

"Watch it!" Leshia cried after Julius Black, but the young man didn't stop at her calls, instead he hurried after Allseyer catching the ringleader's ear. Whatever he said Allseyer was not impressed and spoke hurriedly back. Leshia would have given her eye-teeth to hear what was said between them.

"Leesh let it go, he's not worth it," Rachel muttered in Leshia's ear.

"Don't you see? He knows what's going on and I bet you anything he's the one that's behind it all."

"Allseyer?" Katie spluttered incredulously. "Leesh do you realise what you're saying. You're suggesting Allseyer is outsmarting the greatest wizarding minds of the century. _Including _your dad _and _Albus Dumbledore."

"You're right. He's getting help! And I bet that Julius Black has just the right connections."

"I don't know Leesh, much as I hate the guy he has always seemed on your side," Rodeo countered sounding dubious.

"He was probably trying to lull me into a false sense of security."

"Leesh no offence, but you're starting to sound a little off your rocker." Leshia grinned fondly at Parys and threw her arm around his shoulders with great difficulty, but kept the rest of her suspicious tirade to herself.

Back at the castle a delicious welcoming feast awaited the tired youngsters, who dug into the various dishes ravenously as though her hadn't been fed or watered at all since going home.

Across the great hall three of the houses were suffering from many key losses. There was a subdued quiet atmosphere in the hall, in morbid remembrance of friends dearly missed, who had not been allowed to return to school by overly worried parents. It was a point worth noting, Leshia felt, that the Slytherins seemed to be boasting a full quota and were as raucous as ever, if not more so now they were clearly the dominant house of the school. Leshia felt sick to her stomach at the sight of Allseyer's smug grin, which he kept flashing at her whenever he caught her watching him, followed promptly by a very rude gesture.

It was a sign of respect that no one mentioned the terrible Prophet article that had named and shamed Leshia as a stuck up narcissistic masochist, nor pester her with endless questions about whether she was okay or not after her death-defying leap without a parachute. The girl was left very much alone to peer up the table sadly, watching as Owen's friend Paul was left to tag along with the other boys in their year that they evidently rarely spent time with. He seemed sorry for himself that both his best friends hadn't returned to school, but all Leshia cared about was Owen Gabriel. She had not realised how important his charming interactions meant to her until she was going to have to do without them.

"Nicola's not coming back?" Rachel sounded in shock and her surprise pulled Leshia from her silent reverie to look across the table to where Ashley was sporting an expression similar to Paul's. She too had been abandoned by her closest friend.

"Her mum's completely bought in to the whole perilous monster thing and because of the spell on the club, Nicola couldn't explain that we've got it all under control and that we're working on a solution. We have to figure out what's going on Leesh!" Ashley's wide eyes bored into Leshia accusingly, as though she were personally responsible for her friend not returning to school.

"I know Ash," Leshia replied, pushing aside her temper at being accused in this way: it wasn't _her_ fault the Prophet ran the story. "We all want this to stop. More so because if we don't, one of us is going to end up dead and then they'll close the school. And the way it's been going, it'll probably be me!"

"Leesh don't talk like that!" Katie complained. Leshia rolled her eyes fondly, but nodded to show she took back her morbid statement.

"It's okay Ash, you can hang out with us until Nicola comes back."

"Yeah, other than Leshia's often suicidal antics and Katie's book worming, they're an alright bunch," Rachel piped up happily.

"What about you?" Katie laughed.

"Yeah, people who live in stone houses shouldn't throw glass!" Everyone stared at Leshia for a moment, while she wrinkled her brow and looked up at the ceiling adorably. "No that's not right. How does it go?"

"Looks like you should take a leaf out of Katie's book and do some studying up shorty," Parys' voice came. He and Rodeo had been not so surreptitiously listening in to the girls' conversation.

"Or maybe you shouldn't be so nosy and keep out of other people's business," Leshia retorted happily. At her statement the boys cracked up laughing.

"This coming from you?" Rodeo laughed. "You're like the most nosy person in the world." Leshia wasn't given the chance to retaliate, as when she opened her mouth wide to start her amusing tirade the hall fell silent. Albus Dumbledore had climbed to his feet at the Head Table, and this mere movement commanded the respect and silence of all those gathered. Leshia, who's back was turned to the teachers, would not have noticed and would have proceeded to cry out indignantly, had Rachel not suddenly lunged at the girl and covered her mouth.

"Mwhamm mmwar mmmyou mmoing?" Leshia mumbled into the girl's hand.

"Shhh and turn around," Rachel whispered in her ear, a big smile on her face. Leshia behaved and did as she was told, instantly losing her smile when she saw the venerable head teacher staring his pupils down calmly.

"Welcome back dear pupils," he finally spoke when all eyes had eventually turned on him. "I deeply regret the circumstances in which we have all returned, and I am sure I speak for all of us present that those who could not make it back after the holidays are sorely missed." At Gryffindor table Leshia nodded without thinking, her thoughts lingering on Owen Gabriel.

"No doubt you were all exposed to the stories that were run daily in the newspapers over Easter. You could not have avoided the hysteria and for that I apologise. I wish for you all to understand that Hogwarts is still as safe as it ever was. I will not lie to you; we do not fully understand the powers at work at Hogwarts this year. We are not entirely sure we know the face of this new enemy, but we can assure you we will do everything in our power to keep you safe."

His words were so reassuring, as surely the wizard who came back from death itself and many times afore that kept even Voldemort himself at bay, would keep them all safe? And who could forget his right-hand man; the terrifying Draco Malfoy was a force to be reckoned with and certainly many of the youngsters felt safer in his presence than outside of it.

"We need each and every one of you to be vigilant. Should you have any information, no matter how trivial, about the identity of this so-called monster then please come forward. Do not keep it to yourself. Do not try and fight what you do not understand."

Dumbledore's keen eyes slid onto the trio of Gryffindors and met with Leshia's. The girl held the venerable old man's gaze until he smiled briefly and looked away to the hall at large.

"Enough, I expect you are all desperate to return to your beds. Once more I remind you to look after one another. You are each other's greatest defence against any who would wish to harm you. Do not underestimate the power of friendship." With this Dumbledore sat down in time with a general throng towards the doors. The Gryffindors were some of the last to leave the hall and at the doors Leshia turned around to see Albus Dumbledore hunched over his hands, his eyes closed in silent thought. He seemed to be a man with more troubles on his mind than he was letting on.

Once they had made their way through a rammed common room to their dormitory Leshia started rifling through the satchel she had abandoned at the end of her bed still filled with the books she had left abandoned in it on the last Friday of term.

"Either I've gone mad and you're swotting up before school starts tomorrow," Rachel remarked amusedly when she saw what Leshia was doing. "Or you're up to something."

"I'm guessing the latter," Katie piped up. Leshia grinned at her best friends and dropped onto her bed, a piece of parchment and a quill in hand.

"Who you writing to?"

"That moron Owen Gabriel. Why didn't he tell me he wasn't coming back _before_ we got to school?"

_Owen Gabriel!  
How could you? Didn't think to let your friends know you weren't coming back to school? What am I, not your friend anymore? I'm so mad at you Owen! When are you coming back? If you're not back here within two weeks I'm going to march down to London and drag you back myself!   
And you think I'm joking.   
Dumbledore gave a speech at dinner tonight. He's scared. Really scared! You could tell. I'll tell you what, if you can do some research from London while we're here stuck in lessons then I might just forgive you.   
Don't do anything I wouldn't do!  
From Leshia   
PS If we lose quidditch next week I am holding you personally accountable_

It had taken the girl several scribbling out to decide how she was going to sign off the letter. 'Love' was too direct and simply penning her name seemed too distant. Though she wasn't happy with 'from' it was by far the lesser of all the evils. She couldn't have Owen reading into her accusing letter. She was too mad at him to let him think she still liked him.

When she was done Leshia rushed over to the window nearest her bed and leaned out into the chilly night's sky.

"Leesh shut that window! It's freezing!" Rachel grumbled. The blonde girl smiled broadly before a very large owl landed on her arm.

"Whoa! You're big!" she laughed and attached the letter to its leg. "Can you please bring this to Owen Gabriel? If you peck him really hard next time we meet I'll give you a lemon drop." With a hoot the owl flew off into the darkness leaving Leshia to pull back inside and shut the window.

"What did you say?" Katie asked with a small smile. "Did you give him a hard time."

"Well he's going to regret not coming back. I'll tell you that!"

XXX

_Malfoy be reasonable!  
It's not exactly my fault is it? The Olds are totally over reacting, and as they clothe and feed me, I can't exactly rebel too much. My mum's the paranoid type, can't help it.  
I didn't tell you because I knew you'd probably come down here and make a scene. You'd have made things way worse. Sienna's already got mum and dad all riled up at the prospect that you're my girlfriend. As much as I try and tell them otherwise, they're already picking out wedding dresses. Sorry about that shorty, but it looks as though you're stuck with me. Maybe after a few years and an heir to carry on the Gabriel name we can invent a scandal and you'll be free to go marry that Allseyer bloke. It would break my heart, but hey!  
Malfoy you're playing Hufflepuff! You could beat them as a one-man team! You'd better not lose; I'd like to have a reputation to come home to.  
I'll do what I can shorty, but I can't promise anything. My parents don't move in dark and foreboding circles I have to say, so unless old Mrs Hattie Rosebud is behind the evil presence at Hogwarts, then I can't say I'm going to have much luck.  
Be good!  
Owen  
PS Look after yourself!  
PPS Serves you right!_

The letter came the very next day Leshia received her reply over breakfast delivered to her by the very same owl she had sent to Owen. Thankfully Rachel had a stray lemon drop at the bottom of her satchel, which Leshia fed to the bird. In return she received a painful nick to her finger.

"Ow! I told you to peck _him_, not me!" The bird hooted indignantly, before flapping its great wings and taking off. Its actions made a lot more sense after Leshia read Owen's last line, at which point her already broad smile burst into a little laugh.

"So what did sir have to say for himself?" Katie asked happily.

"Oh, just how we're going to get married." Across the table both Parys and Rodeo spluttered into heir pumpkin juices. "He's joking!" Leshia quickly added when her best friends exchanged a conspiratorial smile. "He also says that I'm going to leave him for Allseyer. _That_ should tell you how sane he was when he wrote the letter!"

"He's probably got a touch of cabin fever," Rachel commiserated. "It would drive me mad being trapped inside with my harpie sisters."

"I do wish you wouldn't say that word Rachel!" Katie grumbled. She had long taken offence to the word 'harpie' and as Rachel used it more than most, she tended to find herself offended nearly every day of the week.

"Well they are harpies!"

"Rachel! That's so mean!"

"Well they're my sisters, I have a right to be mean. You're mean to Michael."

"That's different," Katie countered humbly.

"Why?"

"Well…because he's a boy. Anyway, they're my cousins and I won't have you calling them the H-word in my presence." Leshia, who had been sniggering behind her hand throughout this conversation finally cracked up laughing and climbed to her feet to make her way to their first lesson of the day: charms.

"When you two are done with you lovers' spat, feel free to join me," she chirruped back over her shoulder, thoroughly cheered up by Owen's letter and by her friends' silliness.

XXX

After being inundated with homework in every subject the girls decided early Saturday morning that a trip to the library was in order. The end of year exams were looming and Leshia and Rachel had been horrified to find out that Katie had been studying over the holidays. It didn't seem fair to increase their homework workload when they had so much else to be getting on with. It didn't leave much room for investigating the mysterious goings on at the castle.

They had barely had time to arrange a Blue Lions meeting to discuss what Leshia had learned in the hospital about demons and the strange syndrome. Everyone was certain that it was related to the troubles at Hogwarts, but try as they might, they couldn't work out how. Leshia's accident had humbled the youngsters and the rule they had tried to reinforce before the holidays about always travelling round in pairs was lobbied for until each and every one of the gathered teenagers agreed to it; even Leshia, who remained indignant about the whole thing. She didn't like having a keeper.

In between the hours spent working and sleeping Leshia managed to squeeze in some quidditch practice. Everyone was feeling the strain of the summer term and no one was very keen on the daily quidditch practices that Mila had scheduled. Her reason for demanding so much time of them was the need to train with their replacement keeper Eliot Wood, the twin sister of Chaser Jaime, both daughters of the Scottish Quidditch keeper Oliver Wood. The girl was good, she had learned all she could from her father, but Mila still insisted on wearing the team thin. That Saturday the girls congregated in the library marked the day the Gryffindors had walked out on their captain saying enough was enough, they had to study!

The library was packed with conscientious pupils studying hard for their exams and trying to manage with the extra homework they had been lumbered with. Even so, the girls had managed to procure a small round table away from the fray; as had become the norm Ashley was with them. She sorely missed Nicola and felt the three adventurers were a poor substitute for her best friend, but was grateful for their kindness in letting her join them. It wasn't too bad after all, Katie was very informed about the latest fashions and styling tips and already the girl had learned a host of new ways to keep her hair glossy and her teeth white. She couldn't wait to share them with Nicola!

"What was the fourth statute in the Pact with the Giants?" Rachel suddenly spoke up agitatedly.

"What's a statute?" Leshia, who was studying Potions, piped up; she hadn't got round to reading up on the year's worth of History of Magic she and most of the class had slept through. Katie groaned.

"The pair of you! Rachel, the fourth statute dictates that all Giants shall refrain from maiming, damaging, killing, destroying or harming human livestock that happens to roam into their territories if said livestock is either clearly marked or known to belong to a local farmstead." Rachel and Leshia both blinked. "And Leshia, do some bloody reading already. The exams are only six weeks away!"

"History of Magic is such a bore and I'm going to drop it as soon as we're done with our OWLs. So why should I bother? I want to focus on the subjects I'm going to be carrying on to NEWT level."

"No you don't, you're just being lazy!" Katie grumbled. "And I've had enough of the pair of you asking me ridiculous questions. The next one of you that asks me a stupid question will wake up to find themselves completely bald." Leshia and Rachel sniggered at one another, but obediently held their tongues. For a few more minutes the girls worked in silence, until it was broken by a disgruntled huff from Leshia.

"What's wrong now?" Katie demanded petulantly. "Wondering what a flask is?"

"As much as I adore your teachings Katie, I think I might pass if it's all the same thanks," Leshia retorted amusedly.

"Well what _is_ the matter?"

"_Him_ over there with his slimy stare." Simultaneously all three girls followed Leshia's gaze until their eyes fell on Julius Black, minding his own business in another corner of the library, seemingly submerged in his mountain of work.

"Leesh he's just doing his homework, surely you can't take _that _personally?" Rachel chuckled.

"A minute ago he was watching me. Always watching. Watching, watching, watching! You'd think he'd get bored! He's driving me mad."

"And that's exactly what he wants," Katie stated wisely. "So just ignore him and he'll go away."

"He'll never go away! He'll hang around in my shadow until he drives me slowly bonkers. I mean doesn't he have anything else to do with his time?"

"Well why don't know go and tell _him_ this instead of wasting _our_ time?" Katie complained. Leshia stared firmly at Katie wanting to retaliate, until she concluded that actually that wasn't such a bad idea.

"Fine," she exclaimed haughtily. "I will." With this she flounced off leaving Rachel shaking her head at her cousin.

"If she kills him and gets sent to Azkaban I'm dobbing you in for assisting."

Leshia's face was stony as she crossed the library, her eyes never leaving Julius Black's, who looked up the moment she jumped to her feet. His expression matched hers; he had no patience for Alecia Malfoy when she was on the warpath. The girl came to a stop once she reached his table and after crossing her arms indignantly she narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"Can I help you with anything Malfoy?" the boy asked drolly.

"I don't know, can you stop staring at me?" Julius black raised one dark eyebrow mockingly.

"If you weren't making such a scene then I would quite happily stop looking at you."

"I'm not talking about now! I'm talking about before. Stop looking at me okay?"

"What on earth makes you think I'm looking at _you_?" Julius countered icily.

"Oh don't pretend Black, every time I look up you're sat there staring. What's your point? What do you want?" Julius Black shut his eyes tightly and climbed to his feet, pushing his chair back so roughly it toppled perilously before coming to a rest moments away from tumbling to the ground.

"Turn around Malfoy," he spoke in a growl.

"What?"

"Just do it." Unwilling to turn her back on her enemy for too long Leshia glanced over her shoulder. "That is what I have been looking at," Julius continued, pointing a long finger at the history timeline hanging on the wall behind Leshia's table. Leshia furrowed her brow and stared firmly at the timeline, trying to keep the pink rise in her cheeks at bay. When she was certain she'd be able to hold his gaze Leshia turned back to find Julius Black watching her stoically.

"I suppose you're going to say that yesterday in Defence Against the Dark Arts you were also staring at something behind me? And Wednesday in Runes?"

"You're imagining things Malfoy, it's really very sad."

"No," Leshia growled angrily. "What's sad is skulking about the place pretending like you know everything."

"And what makes you so sure I'm pretending?" The simplicity of Julius Black's face made Leshia falter. He seemed so sincere, so truthful; oh fie him and his mysterious ways. Suddenly the young man reached out his hand and tapped her firmly on the forehead with his long fingers. One day this young man was going to be very tall, his overly large hands gave that away. Leshia jerked her head back in annoyance. "Think Malfoy, think! Everything you need is right here in this very room."

"But not in a library book right?" Leshia uttered so dangerously she was shaking a little from her anger at the enigma stood before her. How _dare_ he touch her! Julius Black sighed heavily, but nodded all the same.

"Right." Swallowing her pride Leshia turned to go, but after taking a few paces from the boy she stopped and turned around slowly.

"If you ever touch me again…" the girl trailed off, but the darkness in her face spoke what a thousand words couldn't. Soberly Julius Black nodded: message received.

XXX

It all started when Parys lost his Blue Lions coin; the string of bad luck that led to the curfew. With so much time devoted to quidditch and homework Leshia hardly realised there was a world going on around her at all. She barely remembered Katie and Rachel grumbling to each other about having to make him a new one and didn't really register it. Pretty soon afterwards things started going very wrong.

Katie awoke one night to find a shadowy figure hands tight as steel around her neck. Her floundering luckily awoke the others who saved her from the nightmare only she could see. Luke and Tom suffered a dreadful headlong collision during quidditch training and when they awoke two days later in the hospital wing they attested to not having control of their brooms anymore.

Their injuries meant the B-squad beaters had to take their places in the game against Hufflepuff and as such when Gryffindor walked onto the pitch to face their last adversary they felt quite unsure of themselves. With nearly half the team completely unknown to them the fans were worried their usually spectacular side was going to let them down. The cup was still very much up for grabs with no clear-cut leader in the runnings. Gryffindor stood a good chance; if they could beat Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw beat Slytherin in their upcoming match then they would be victorious. It was too many ifs for Mila's liking and she had been stern in her speech to her team.

There was no need though and before many of the spectators had settled down into their seats for an exciting and unknown match it was all over with Leshia's fastest catch of the snitch yet. Though everyone was a little dismayed that their trudge down to the quidditch pitch had been in vein, the Gryffindors were still delightfully happy and threw a little party in honour of the amalgamated team.

The evening's festivities came to an abrupt halt when Parys mysteriously slipped on the stairs and went tumbling down knocking himself out in the process. While he spent the night in the hospital wing the rest of the Blue Lions formed an impromptu meeting to discuss the recent turn of unlucky events. Leshia's mood didn't improve on their way back to the common room as right outside the secret room she bumped into none other than Julius Black who was looking shiftier than ever she saw him.

The final draw in a series of minor attacks on pupils across the school was possibly the most alarming yet; one day, Michael Potter went missing.

At first everyone suspected the boy and his friends were having a laugh, trying to worry the Gryffindors into falling for their practical joke, but when dinner passed and Michael still hadn't turned up everyone sat up and paid attention. Harry and Ginny floo'ed to the castle within seconds of finding out their son was missing and Katie became so upset she withdrew into the curtains of her four-poster bed.

Draco caught the brunt of the worried parents' anger, but he bore it as silently as he could, knowing he would be far less amenable were their situations reversed. If Leshia were missing, he would bring down any who stood in his way until she was back at his side. The fact that he felt guilty for his good friends' child going missing was firmly pushed into the closet full of shame he already felt at being too weak and short sighted to stop what was happening at Hogwarts.

The curfew came about the following day, when with no sign of Michael a squadron of Ministry Aurors were called in to oversee a rescue effort, headed up by Draco himself. Their efforts paid off and on the third day of his disappearance Michael was found, hanging on to dear life by a thread beside a familiar pond Draco had once taken his pupils to. The coincidence was lost on the Aurors, but Draco knew and held the thought privately in his mind, mulling over it whenever he got the chance.

Michael recovered and the school remained open, but there were more than a few terrified parents who pulled their children out as soon as Michael's story broke. The curfew remained and the pupils lived in fear. When they weren't in lessons they were crammed into their common rooms and the library. It was a miserable existence lit up only briefly by the swinging party Gryffindor threw for themselves when Ravenclaw beat Slytherin by ten points, giving way for the Lion's house to claim the Quidditch Cup.

The depressed mindset of the pupils made them very difficult to educate. Had the situation been less dire, then the youngsters would have loved the fun lessons their teachers set for them to try and get them to engage in their work.

Hermione especially had been going all out with her classes and had set the third years a project to make their own ancient rune alphabet in pairs, make their very own clay Rune stones and then they would spend their last lesson of the project deciphering another pair's stone, before writing up a report about their experiences. Katie and Rachel had a wail of a time during the weeklong project; Leshia however found herself fuming as for the second time in her life one of her parents posing as her teacher partnered her up with one of her sworn enemies.

For a week Leshia wouldn't speak to her mother, instead relaying messages through her highly distracted father. Draco seemed to be affected by the curfew more so than the pupils. He had hardly seemed himself for weeks and before Leshia's silent treatment of her mother she had confided in Hermione her concerns for Draco. Why hadn't he solved the mystery yet? What was going to happen if he didn't?

Before their last lesson in which they were going to present their findings to the class Julius requested a library sessions with Leshia, who despite wanting very much to decline, agreed. She didn't want to get a bad mark or this whole damned project would have been in vein.

Their alphabet had gone very well as had their Rune stone, an excellent combination of Leshia's creativity and Julius' fine eye for detail. This combined presentation was proving to be the crux of their partnership; yes, they were actually going to have to talk.

"So you're going to talk about where we got our inspiration from, I'll talk about the key characters, you'll then talk about the filling characters and then we'll both talk about the inspiration for our stone. Agreed?" Leshia stated coldly, not even looking at Julius Black.

"Well that's all well and good, but are we going to write a script or are we just going to wing it?" Leshia stared firmly at the boy and sighed heavily.

"If we must."

"Well you do know this project is counting for a quarter of our mark don't you?" Leshia sighed once more and kicked at the table leg.

"Fine, I'll write my bit and you write your bit. We'll compare them afterwards." No more was said between the two as they got to work. Leshia stuck her tongue out as she concentrated, fully enveloped in what she was writing. She barely noticed Julius Black staring off into space, his quill dancing across her project notes.

"If you actually get started instead of scribbling on _my_ notes we'd be done a lot quicker," Leshia told the boy darkly, reaching out to yank her notes away from the boy. Julius seemed putout and looked down at his hands, seemingly counting to ten.

"This is pointless," he finally exploded frustratingly. "Write what you want, we'll just wing it." With this he picked up his books and stormed out leaving Leshia watching after him in complete and utter confusion; Julius Black had just lost his rag. She didn't even know it was possible. The boy was such a stoical creature; she had only ever seen him deviate slightly from his normal calm exterior. He was a perfect opposite of Leshia the temperamental: Julius the calm.

"Fine, be like that!" Leshia finally mustered to call after him and after fuming for a moment she shoved her pages roughly into her satchel and stared down at the grain of the table.

She missed Owen. When was the last time they had written one another? How long until she saw him again? Without his ever present friendliness around she had rather started to forget him and what it felt like to touch his skin, to see him smile…she missed the closeness they had enjoyed, but now she sat and thought about the boy, she wasn't sure why they had been so close after all.

"Leesh?" Leshia looked up sharply to see Rodeo approaching her cautiously. He looked so consoling and so kind that Leshia had to smile at him.

"Hi Rodeo, what are you doing here?" Leshia indicated the seat Julius had just vacated and after a dashing smile Rodeo dropped down into it.

"Doing some last minute studying for this Care of Magical Creatures test we've got tomorrow. Hagrid wants us to do a practical exam on the best ways of feeding a five mouthed razor fanged scorpion." Leshia's eyes went wide.

"How about with a very long pole?" she finally managed amusedly.

"Very funny kid," the boy laughed. "So what you doing here and _what_ is that?" He instantly made a grab for the impressive rune stone and turned it over in his hands.

"It's this rune stone Julius Black and I made in class," Leshia sighed pensively. Rodeo looked up with one eyebrow raised.

"You and Black?"

"Don't ask, my mum's idea. We were in pairs." Rodeo nodded and shrugged, not saying any more on the matter.

"So what are these things?" The boy was fingering the runes Leshia had roughly carved into the clay that Julius Black had so carefully touched up to look authentic.

"They're runes, the ones that Black and I made up."

"You made them up? What all on your own?" Leshia grinned and shrugged.

"Well, we based them on the Dichotical Scryan Line Type Runes that the Usmanian Tribe of Ghana were using nearly ten thousand years ago, but yeah, basically we made them up." Once more Rodeo stared his friend down before he finally shook his head heavily and placed the rune stone back on the table.

"I am _so_ happy I didn't take Ancient Runes," he exclaimed breathily. Leshia grinned and glanced to the book he was holding: '101 handy tips for dealing with flesh eating pets'. Her grin grew.

"Not as happy as I am that I didn't take Care of Magical Creatures." In the distance the first bell of the evening rang signifying that those who had been escorted to the designated public spaces were to get ready to be chaperoned back to their common rooms. Leshia and Rodeo climbed to their feet.

"We should do this again sometime Malfoy, it's been ages since we actually talked, just you and me." Rodeo seemed so sincere and ashamed.

"Yeah that's because you turned weird on me Holsson, but it's okay. I understand it's because you're a boy."

"What do you mean?" her friend laughed happily, very relieved Leshia wasn't taking this opportunity to turn his humble apology into a rant.

"Well you know, hormones and all that."

"What so you girls don't have hormones? Is that what you're saying?" Leshia grinned at her friend as they reached the queue of surly and impatient looking pupils.

"No, we do have them. It's just that our brains are programmed to think before we act on them, but you lot, you just follow them blindly no matter how much trouble they get you into."

"Isn't that romantic?" Rodeo asked charmingly eliciting a snort of laughter from Leshia.

"It's bloody annoying!" she managed.

"Miss Malfoy calm down." Professor McGonagall was giving Leshia a firm look that screamed fondness for the young Gryffindor.

"Seriously though Leshia, I am sorry I've been so horrible to you lately," Rodeo spoke humbly when the teacher up ahead turned to another group of misbehaving pupils. Leshia looked into the boy's eyes and saw intense shame there; she didn't want him to feel this way.

"Rodes it's fine, really. All's forgiven and forgotten, seriously. So stop being so bleeding serious on me okay?" Rodeo nodded brusquely, amazed at Leshia's multifaceted personality. Sometimes she could seem to cold, aloof and only interested in her own self gain and yet other times she was more selfless than anyone he knew.

"Okay everyone, stay together. No wandering off!" Professor McGonagall would be guiding the library-conscious Gryffindors back to their common room and she took her task very seriously. Leshia and Rodeo lingered at the back of the group, looking around at the dark castle despairingly. Even though it was nine in the evening and on a normal day most of the corridors would be deserted anyway, the prowling teachers around every turn and the tense unease lingering on everyone's faces meant Hogwarts looked like a very different place.

"You ready for exams Malfoy?" Rodeo asked cheerfully moments away from Gryffindor corridor. Leshia grinned and shrugged.

"No not really, but hey, we've got two weeks yet."

"Two weeks? Is that all?" the boy spluttered. "I thought we had more than that!"

"Where have you been all month?" Leshia giggled. "Every lesson we get an earful from the teachers."

"Yeah I just tend to switch off when they get going," Rodeo sighed. "My brain is too tired. I can't wait for summer. Got anything exciting planned?"

"Um, not really. I'll be working at the bookshop again."

"When's your mum going to, you know, have the new baby?" Leshia met Rodeo's eyes and looked pained, before she looked at her feet and shrugged her shoulders.

"Soon I guess, she's absolutely humongous."

"It'll be alright you know." Leshia looked up at him sharply, her eyes cold.

"No offence Rodeo, but how would you know? You're a single child aren't you?" she stated icily. The boy at her side shrugged his shoulders.

"I always wanted a brother or sister. I'm really jealous you know."

"Yeah well as far back as I can remember all I wanted was my mum back, I hadn't counted on getting a little brother or sister to boot. I mean the second she comes back she's having another baby. It's like I'm not enough." She was voicing concerns she hadn't truly admitted to herself yet and the pain was evident on her face. She was feeling completely inadequate and left out by the whole prospect of having a younger sibling. She would be losing her parents.

"Leesh you know your parents worship the ground you walk on. They probably want more kids because they're hoping they'll get another just like you." Leshia sniggered with laughter despite her depression at the thought of the impending new arrival.

"You really do know how to suck up don't you Rodes?" she giggled before she threw her arm around his shoulders. "You're alright Holsson, you're alright."

XXX

The impending exams only a fortnight away had sent Hogwarts' bedraggled pupils into a cramming frenzy. The curfew had made it very difficult for the members of the Blue Lions to meet to discuss any more developments in the monster stakes, but finally the Sunday before the exams were due to take place they managed to get everyone together in the Room of Requirement.

The faces of everyone gathered were glum and gaunt looking. Along with the impending tests nobody was getting a good night's sleep, which soon became the subject of everyone's discussion.

"I don't remember any dreams anymore," Sarah Weasley, older cousin of Katie and Rachel, revealed sadly. "Just nightmares." Most of the others nodded in agreement.

"I keep catching shadows behind me, but when I turn around, there's nothing there!" Parys added.

"Well at least no one's getting hurt anymore are they?" Leshia tried to regain control of the situation; everyone looked like they were on the brink of wanting to start a lynch mob. The group members looked to one another for assurance that this was very much the case. Only one hung her head and trembled a little.

"Amy what's wrong?" Katie asked her older cousin. The girl had hardly spoken a word all throughout the meeting and Katie, ever the perceptive one, had been quick to pick up on it. The girl looked up sharply at Katie's words and everyone was shocked to see tears in her eyes.

"What's happened?" Rachel now asked with immense concern, while at Amy's side her best friend and cousin Sarah wrapped a protective arm about her. She of course knew what the matter was and had tried to persuade her friend not to reveal the story…she didn't like the idea of what might follow if she did.

Amy though, could not suffer in silence anymore and with two shaking hands she pulled the collar of her jumper down. As one the Lions winced and withdrew at the sight of the purply black finger marks around the girl's sore and swollen throat.

"Who did that to you?" Luke and Tom Weasley both demanded in unison, anger radiant in their faces at the thought of someone hurting their younger cousin.

"Yesterday morning," the girl managed shakily and a few tears fell from her wide eyes. "I woke up to find…" Amy paused and lifted her terrified eyes to Leshia, who suddenly felt something churn in the pit of her stomach. She didn't like the way this was going. The two girls held each other's gaze, Leshia's brow darkening every moment while Amy grew more and more distressed. "He was crouched over me his hands round his neck. His eyes were so dark, so scary! He didn't look real!" the girl suddenly burst out.

"My dad? You also saw my dad? You're saying he did this to you?" Leshia spoke very slowly. Amy shook from her tears and shook her head.

"It was him, but it wasn't _him_! I can't explain it." The group lulled into silence unsure of what to do. Leshia looked so dark she could have passed for her father on his darkest of days. Someone had to say something.

"Leshia?" Everyone's heads turned slowly to look at Rachel. Eventually Leshia followed suit and looked to her best friend for guidance. "I know this isn't what you want to hear right now, but that day that I slipped in the bathroom, the day after my fall? Well, the reason I fell was because I saw his reflection. He was right behind me, but when I turned around, he was gone." A silence spread out to the far reaches of the room and Katie, who was sat nearest to Leshia, could have sworn she heard the girl's thudding pulse. Rachel quickly continued, "I don't think it was your dad, that's not what I'm saying. I know he wouldn't do any of this. I know he couldn't. It's just maybe this demon, this monster or whatever it is, maybe it can change shapes."

Again silence ensued while Leshia herself looked near to tears. How could she fight this any longer? Her closest friends simply wouldn't incriminate her father for no reason, and that voice, the one she had heard right before…

"Before I fell over the banister before the holiday," she finally croaked barely louder than whisper. Several of the Lions leant in to hear her better. "I heard him. He was pleading with someone and then I felt it. Maybe this demon is here because of him and that's why he can't seem to find it or identify it. Maybe it's all his fault, because of all the evils he's done in the past?"

"Or maybe it really is a shape shifting demon," Katie spoke firmly now. She couldn't have Leshia publicly oust her father. She wouldn't let her dear friend plunge the nails into her own coffin. "This hasn't got anything to do with your dad Leesh. Right then, everyone's going to have to spend a little time this week researching shape shifters okay? I know it's exams, but we can't let this lie, we're on to a new lead."

The way Katie took charge of everyone was a relief to Leshia, who took the opportunity to make amends to her dad in her mind and in her heart. She felt awful for saying such things about her father, but was more confused than ever about why everything was pointing to him.

When everyone had been told what to do they all filed out. Leshia remained behind to write in the ledger, trying to find an excuse to avoid everyone's prying eyes. Rachel and Katie tried to remain at her side, but Leshia was adamant they leave her to it. In the silence of the comfortable room Leshia crumbled and the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry dad," she cried into the gloom. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it…" Leshia dropped her face into her knees, hugging them tightly to her chest to squeeze away her shame and pain. She was afraid; afraid that now she knew of Draco's past misdeeds, his treachery towards her mother and their dearest friends that she would never truly trust him again. What if this was all his fault?

The door to the room creaked open and a figure crept in. Leshia went rigid as a feeling of dread crept down her spine. Despite herself she started panting and the hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood to attention. Bracing herself for the worst Leshia looked up sharply just about catching sight of a dark head of hair disappearing out the door before it was promptly pulled shut. In an instant Leshia was on her feet sniffing her tears away firmly. Was that…? Surely not! How could he have found the room? How did he get in? Leshia ran out into the corridor beyond to find it deserted. Shivering against the chill that swept up her spine Leshia shook herself out of her mood. She had to get a grip!

"Leshia?" The girl spun around and found her father standing only a few yards behind her. Before he knew what was going on she had lunged forward and hugged him firmly. "What's happened? Why are you alone? You know the rules."

"I was just catching up with Rachel, she rushed ahead to go to the toilet, but I thought I heard something suspicious and stayed behind." The lie sprung to her lips without her even needing to think about it. Draco, though knowing she wasn't being quite truthful, believed her nonetheless.

"Why have you been crying?" he asked brusquely and finally managed to push his daughter back to look into her bloodshot eyes.

"You don't want to know," Leshia said stubbornly. "And I don't really want to tell you." Draco furrowed his brow in slight annoyance, but he had no right to push her. Suspecting teenage dramas to be the source of her upset he instead dragged her into the crook of his arm and led her towards the portrait of the fat lady.

"I don't care if you were only on your own for a few minutes sweetheart, you shouldn't be out here alone at all!" he said as they walked, returning to the one arena where he held complete control: discipline.

"I know."

"Well if I have to catch you again you'll find yourself having to stay with your mum and me until the end of term. Got it?" Leshia's eyes went wide at the prospect of constant supervision and nodded quickly.

"Got it," she stated firmly.

"I mean it Leshia. You have no idea how dangerous times are at the moment; I don't want anything to happen to you. Your mother would never let me hear the end of it," Draco chuckled. Leshia laughed half-heartedly along with him, wanting very much to ask him if _he_ had any idea of the dangerous times they were living in.

"Dad when are you going to put a stop to all this?" she finally asked dolefully. Draco leaned back slightly and regarded her with a calculating expression. "It's really boring having a curfew and all my friends, well they're scared."

"Are you scared?" her father finally asked gravely and after a moment's thought Leshia shook her head.

"Not yet." The pair held each other's gaze until finally Draco shook his head quickly as though shaking himself out a trance and hugged his daughter firmly.

"I'll fix it. I promise. Now go and study, my exam first thing tomorrow? Did you forget? Why aren't you in there swotting up?" Leshia grinned and hugged him back firmly.

"Why do I need to study, you'll give me an O no matter what I do. I don't even have to turn up," she joked cheerfully. Draco laughed and pulled back with a warning look.

"Just try it shorty and you'll find yourself sitting third year all over again."

"Well just think how little work I'd have to do if I've done it all before." Draco chuckled and ruffled his daughter's hair.

"Go and study, I'll see you bright and early in the morning." Leshia beamed at him and nodded happily, feeling entirely comforted from her earlier upset. Inside the common room was deserted as everyone was up in their dormitories cramming for the start of exams. Up in the third year girls' dorm there was no exception; the girls were concentrating hard on their Defence Against the Dark Arts notes and only broke for air when Leshia walked in.

"Are you okay Leesh?" Rachel demanded and she jumped to her feet. The blonde girl smiled charmingly at her friend.

"I'm fine, really. Now come on, can someone remind me about the Kappa Tribe warfare thing, because I think I've just completely blocked that one out."

That night the girls got to bed at four in the morning, when the early morning sun was creeping over the misty horizon.

XXX

Monday's exams consisted of a three hour morning Defence Against the Dark Arts exam that had the children leaving the room with their heads hanging in despair and an afternoon three hour long Charms exam that ended much more positively. All in all it had been a mixed, but overall satisfactory day of testing and when the girls climbed in to bed much later on when once more the clock was climbing into the wee hours of the morning, they were feeling good about their odds.

This feeling of wellbeing was about to change.

Leshia awoke to the sounds of a high-pitched scream. Before she had struggled into full consciousness and prized her eyes open another scream joined the first.

"What?" she managed and she sat up, pushing her hands down onto the bed to sit up. Her hands clutched at damp sheets. Leshia's eyes flew open, though she immediately regretted it; she was covered in dark red blood. In terror Leshia scrambled up her bed and looked her body over for injuries.

"Leesh don't move!" Katie cried out. "Ash go and get help!"

"What's happened to me?"

"You're cut Leesh and it's bad, just don't move," Katie insisted while at her side Rachel was trembling from head to toe at the sight of their best friend. All across Leshia's shoulders and neck deep gashes were sliced painfully into her skin. The fact that she had survived an unknown amount of time since this brutal attack had occurred was a miracle and Katie didn't want Leshia panicking more than she had to.

"Where am I cut?" Leshia demanded, reaching up to feel her neck. Her hand instantly recoiled and she started panting. "I'm…I can't…what…"

"Leesh please," Katie pleaded and she rushed to the blonde girl's side, sitting down next to her and pushing her down firmly to keep her still. A tear rolled down her pale cheek. "Please don't move!"

While Rachel wept Katie kept Leshia contained enough for Ashley to get help in the form of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfry. The healer managed to heal the cuts in moments, but insisted on levitating Leshia to the hospital wing to give her some rejuvenating potion to bring her blood levels back up.

That day Leshia had to do her exams from the hospital wing. It was hardly fair she thought to herself, her mind would not leave the fact that she had nearly died in her sleep. Whoever was attacking everyone was getting angry and desperate with the end of term nearing. How were the teachers going to respond to this one?

"My dear pupils. Owing to recent developments I am very sorry to announce that until the end of term your dormitories are going to be monitored regularly by the staff to ensure your safety," Albus Dumbledore announced over dinner that evening. The incredulous pupils, those who had not witness Leshia's brush with death, stared at him with open mouths. "We do not wish to invade your privacy, but the situation has become dire. I am afraid to say that if we cannot solve this matter over the summer, then we will not be reopening for the new term."

Had Leshia thought the situation could get any worse, she was gravely mistaken, as shortly after dinner Hermione and Draco approached their daughter telling her that she was to be staying with them until further notice. The angry looks on their faces meant Leshia had no choice.

She sunk to an all time low.

XXX

"How's the revision going?" Leshia looked up from her work at the dining table to see her incredibly massive mother wobble in. Just how it was physically possible for her to be so big was completely beyond the young girl, who felt a stab of anger and pain whenever she saw her pregnant mother glowing with happiness.

It was late and the family had already been for dinner in the great hall; a point of contention that Leshia had insisted upon so that she could still see her friends while serving her sentence at her parents' quarters. Indeed, Draco had just got back from escorting Rachel and Katie back to Gryffindor Tower. They had spent most of the week with Leshia at the Malfoys' revising together so it didn't really matter where they were, but how this little arrangement was going to work after their last exam in the morning, Leshia wasn't sure. They couldn't truly 'hang out' at her parents' place for two weeks until the holidays. Could they?

"It would go even better if you could tell me the answers," Leshia replied with a cheeky smile. It was fortunate that Runes, the hardest of her subjects, was her last exam. She had spent all week going over Character sheets and timelines, trying to cement the complicated knowledge in her mind. Her last order of the day was to go over the project she and Julius Black had done together.

"Now what sort of mother would I be if I helped you cheat your way through life?" Hermione chuckled adoringly.

"A much loved one," Leshia grumbled. From the settee in front of the fire Draco looked up from his marking and smiled broadly at his wife.

"If it's so easy to win her love, I'd say go for it," he suggested cheerfully. His smile was such a rare feature on his handsome face that both Leshia and Hermione looked at him with wide eyes, trying to savour the moment while it lasted. Draco Malfoy had become almost as reclusive as he was back in his Ministry Days.

"I hate it that you're both teachers," Leshia finally broke the silence with a grumble. She was joking, but only just. "Now would you both be quiet, I'm trying to remember Pentathic Veran Round Type Runes to compare with the alphabet Black and I made up and your yapping isn't helping me. Man, you would never get this in the library!" Hermione obediently kept quiet and joined Draco at the coffee table where her sixth years' exams lay waiting to be marked. She had no doubt in her daughter's abilities; Leshia had suffered a slow start to Runes, but had since become one of the more competent members of the clever group.

At the dining table Leshia sighed heavily and leafed through her notes, flicking through them as though a cartoon was drawn in its pages waiting to be brought to life by the quick interchanges between the pages. Suddenly she stopped and stared at the scraggly script on the page in a handwriting that wasn't her own.

"Mord…" she uttered and turned her head to read the words. "Gist? Gest? Geist? Mordgeist?" Quickly she pulled the sheet of notes out and recognised the script as Julius Black's doodles. Each one read the strange word 'Mordgeist'.

"Mordgeist?" the girl spoke aloud again in complete and uttered confusing.

"What did you just say?" Leshia looked up quickly to see her father had risen to his feet, his face as dark as a thundercloud.

"Mordgeist. Why? Dad what's wrong?" Draco Malfoy's face had gone as white as a sheet.

"Darling? Are you alright?" Hermione chimed in concernedly.

"Dad what's a Mordgeist?" Leshia asked urgently; everything was falling into place. Whatever was attacking them all was a Mordgeist, whatever that was, and the realisation was evidently dawning on her father at this very moment.

"Um…" Draco started backing towards the door slowly.

"Draco don't you dare," Hermione called after him firmly. "Don't you dare walk out that…"

"I'll be back!" With this the young man was gone leaving his wife and child staring after him in anger and surprise. He didn't return all night and when Hermione finally shepherded Leshia to bed so that she would be well rested for her morning exam the girl's mind was whirring. Julius Black's involvement in this whole sordid affair was blurry to her. Was he trying to save her or boast about his achievements? How was she going to learn more about these Mordgeists? Why had Draco gone so pale?

"If only I had Katie's cloak I could go to the library. All those books, there must be…" Leshia paused and Julius' cryptic message finally made sense in her mind. Many moons ago his intrusion into her researching, the day he had left that strange old book on her table…those dark horrible eyes of the man's depiction on the page had lain right below the title 'Mordgeist'.

"The book!" she cried out. "The book that's in the library, but not a library book. It's his book!"

XXX

For Leshia the Runes exam could not have gone by any slower. She raced through her questions, scribbling down in a script only her mother would be able to read and then waited out the remainder of the exam time impatiently. Finally Hermione gave the class leave to go and as Leshia raced out she beamed at her mother to let her know that despite her mind only being half on the exam, it had gone well.

"What is up with you Leesh? Let's go outside with everybody else. The exams are over! We have to celebrate!" Rachel called after the blonde girl as she led her friends towards the library.

"What we have to do is go to the library."

"Oh no! Are you _mad_?" Rachel complained exasperatedly. "Leesh we just finished our exams for goodness sake."

"I swear this is good Rach, now come on and hurry up, I'm not sure it it'll still be there!" This caught her friends' attention and they followed Leshia against the mainstream exodus of the castle until they reached the library where only as few older year pupils were cramming before their afternoon exams. Leshia dragged her friends over to the table she had been sitting at that day when Julius had put the blatant clue right under her nose and found it, quite naturally, free of any books. Madam Pince was very efficient in keeping her library presentable.

"Argh, it's not here!"

"Leesh I'm not taking another step till you tell us what's going on," Rachel insisted and she crossed her arms bemusedly. Leshia looked from one unimpressed face to the next before she sighed and dropped down at the table. Her friends quickly joined her.

"A few weeks ago when Julius Black and I had to do that project together in Runes he wrote the word Mordgeist all over my notes without me noticing what he was doing. He then stormed off when I didn't even look at them."

"And?" Katie managed when Leshia paused, waiting for a reaction from her friends.

"Well ages ago when he interrupted me in my research he left this great big book on the table and even though I didn't think anything of it at the time, it was open on this page that talked all about these Mordgeist things." Katie was now getting the picture even if Rachel wasn't.

"It was his book wasn't it?" the raven-haired girl spoke slowly in a far away voice. "That riddle you told us that he told you, about finding the answer in a book in the library. He left you his book!"

"I know," Leshia sighed sounding pained. "And I was too stupid not to read it at the time and now it's gone. There's more though, last night I said it aloud, you know, Mordgeist and my dad, well he went totally pale and stormed out. I think he knows what's going on at last."

"Well at least one of us does," Rachel finally grumbled tetchily. "Will one of you tell me what the heck is going on?"

"Julius Black has been trying to help Leshia all year. He's known what's going on and has been trying to help, but we didn't figure it out till just now," Katie explained patiently. "And if we can find this book her left for Leesh then we'll know what we're up against."

Rachel thought it over for a moment.

"Oh."

"Come on, let's go ask Madam Pince," Leshia announced as soon as the look of realisation dawned on her freckled friend's face. The girls spared no time in racing over to the frightening librarian's desk where she looked up at them sternly.

"Yes?" she asked threateningly, wondering what the girls were after, as their exams must have finished by now.

"I left a book in here a few months ago and I was just wondering if you might still have it lying around," Leshia lied easily. Madam Pince stared her down over the top of her round spectacles.

"What sort of book?"

"Well it was big and old and I just realised it's missing. Last time I had it was here." Feeling incredibly scrutinised Leshia held her ground while Madam Pince stared her down, until finally she nodded over to a pile of abandoned books on a trolley in a dusty corner of the library.

"Best look over there." The girls raced off with Madam Pince's warning to calm down ringing in their ears and then spent the next ten minutes pawing over the trolley for the book that matched Leshia's description.

"It's not here!" Katie wailed. "What are we going to do?" Leshia leaned back and thought hard, grinding her teeth hard.

"Come on, I've got an idea."

XXX

Julius Black lay back under the shade of the great tree just within hearing range of his housemates. He could always be found lurking in the shadows, not quite a part of the group, but near enough to be included in the gossip, the plans, the treachery and the wickedness that plagued the house and its members. He was very happy the exams were over, but was growing more concerned. Their completion meant soon it would be too late to complete what he had set out to do, if only that damn Malfoy girl weren't so stubborn…

As though he had summoned her with his thoughts Julius Black looked up to see Alecia Malfoy storming across the grass towards him. In her wake her friends followed breathlessly, matching looks of concern on their faces, which contrasted so with the determined fury on Leshia's. In a second Julius was on his feet ready to head Leshia off lest she reveal too much.

"You! I need to have a word with you!" the girl called out and across the grounds the Slytherins stopped what they were doing to watch. Julius Black grinded his teeth together. By now Leshia was within yards of him. "What the hell is a Mordgeist?" The dark boy had not been expecting this and despite himself his face fell forward a little, looking, for the first time in his school career, worried. Katie and Rachel noticed even if Leshia was too angry to see.

Across the grounds the Slytherins were looking at one another and approaching closer so that they could hear better. Julius Black wasn't taking any chances; before Leshia knew what was going on he'd grabbed her arm and dragged her away with her friends in pursuit.

"Don't you ever use your brain Malfoy?" he demanded angrily.

"What…"

"_Not _here!" Leshia wrenched her arm from his grip and stopped walking.

"Yes here! Just tell me…" Julius wheeled on her, his expression entirely incredulous. Why had it been entrusted to someone so foolish and stubborn? How on Earth had it happened? "What is a Mordgeist?" the girl pressed.

"Shut up!" Julius exclaimed fervently, cracks of fear snaking through his stoical façade. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do! I know you…"

"Malfoy shut up and listen, because I am only going to say this once and after that I shall pretend you do not exist. Understood?" Julius interrupted hoarsely. In the distance the Slytherins were catching up with them. Leshia nodded quickly, the look of anger still etched into her striking features. "Don't trust your eyes. Shut them if you have to I don't care, just don't believe what you're seeing! Trust your instincts! They won't guide you wrong." With this Julius stepped away from her and gave her such a look of urgency and pleading that Katie dragged the girl away. She didn't tear her eyes from Julius' face until she was manually forced round by her friends and led back up to the castle.

In their wake Julius stayed routed to the spot his heart going a million miles a minute until finally the burley Slytherins caught up with him.

"What was that little argy bargy about Black?" Damian Allseyer demanded with only a hint of his usual cockiness; he wouldn't dare unleash it all on such an enigma as Julius Black.

"She thinks I'm to blame for all the attacks," Julius lied easily, turning his cold eyes on the ringleader of the sorry group of teenagers. "Threatened to rat me out to her father." Damian Allseyer smiled while his friends laughed wildly. Inwardly Julius sighed from relief, he was going to get away with it this time, but in future he was going to have to be more careful.

"You know, I think I'm actually going to miss Blood Traitor when she's gone."

XXX

Leshia's imprisonment lasted after the exams finished and even though her friends were regular extras in the Malfoy homestead, Leshia was sure she was going to go mad. Their regular appearances made up for the fact that Draco was rarely home anymore and when he was he was in Leshia's small room that doubled as a library and was not to be disturbed. Leshia's pestering of him about what a Mordgeist was had not helped matters. It was a sorry state of affairs and by Thursday Leshia had had enough of being so clueless and called a Blue Lions meeting, even if it meant skipping the curfew that started right after lessons ended.

She was the last to make her way from the History of Magic classroom to the Room of Requirement. She had been called to stay behind due when it became evident that she was asleep; whether it was the fact that she was snoring lightly or when she dropped her head down onto the table that alerted Professor Binns the girl wasn't sure, but she was very happy to have talked her way out of detention, even if it meant being ten minutes late for the meeting.

The hallways were deserted as usual and Leshia rushed off so as not to be alone for too long. Half way to the Tapestry though she skidded to a halt on the nicely polished floor; she wasn't alone. Very slowly she turned around to find a tall figure lurking in the shadows of the corridor.

"Dad?" she called out uneasily. She would recognise his stature even in near-darkness. Something however, wasn't quite right.

"I need to show you something," he spoke in the faraway voice she had heard the day she fell from the stairs and ended up in St Mongos. The girl gulped.

"Come out of the shadows. You're scaring me." On command her father obeyed. He was soaking wet. Leshia looked into his eyes and felt her heart skip a beat. Here she was, face to face with the Mordgeist.

"Okay," she managed brightly. "Show me." The serious coldness in the creature's eyes remained, but he stepped backwards and walked into the dark open doorway he had been lingering by. Leshia steadied herself and counted to ten. The day of reckoning had arrived. Without a glance back she stepped into the dark.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

End of part XIII

Review!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the reviews everyone who can be bothered to feedback on my work. Your comments are VERY much appreciated.

Next chapter is the final chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep on the lookout

PS – There's been some confusion over whether Dumbledore is dead in this or not. He has been alive throughout my series. His death in the original series turned out to be a ruse and he was revived with Snape's help. He's very old, but very much alive at the moment.


	14. Part Fourteen

Warning: this chapter gets pretty dark, just so you know

**Generations: The Blue Lions**

**Part XIV**

The Blue Lions had all managed to get to the meeting after lessons on Thursday despite the teachers trying their very hardest to ensure all pupils returned to a designated area. All manner of excuses were invoked; sore tummies in need of Madam Pomfry's assistance, knocking over various displays and objects in the classrooms meaning they had to remain behind to tidy them up, and even going to the toilet right before the end of the lesson and not coming back in classes with the less observant teachers.

So here they sat in an awkward silence intermittently disrupted by bouts of everyone talking at once. Though Leshia was by no means the leader of the group, somehow her presence made their gathering more official and enabled sensible discussion to ensue.

"When is she going to get here?" Gracie Wallace, one of the club's Ravenclaw contingent, finally demanded of Katie and Rachel. Her demand was met by a chorus of 'yeah' from the Lions, as each one proceeded to explain the pressing business they each had to get to and therefore really couldn't be detained any longer.

"She'll be here soon," Katie tried to sooth the group's impatience.

"We don't need Leshia here to talk do we?" Rachel suddenly stated tetchily; she hated the mob mentality their friends often displayed in times of unease. "Why don't we each go round and talk about anything that might have happened since the last meeting that nobody's heard about yet. I mean come on; Leesh woke up to find her chest and neck slashed open! I'm betting you've got lots to share."

Rachel's mentioning of Leshia's terrible accident calmed those who were getting angry at the girl in her absence and so with a pointed look from Rachel to Parys at her side, he was asked to begin.

"You know I had my head in the clouds through the exams, I don't really think…" He paused and frowned. "No wait! We were talking to some Hufflepuffs before our Herbology exam and this one girl told us she had woken up that morning with strange marks around her neck. They looked just like the ones you had Amy."

"Yeah they were also saying how they get really bad nightmares and don't really sleep anymore. They're all really scared," Rodeo added.

"I heard that Josie Managan in our year nearly ended up under a large wardrobe at the weekend," Luke piped up with a worried frown. "She said she felt like she was going to die right before it happened, she was so scared she nearly wet herself."

"I heard she did wet herself," Tom countered with a grin. The Lions proceeded in a much more orderly fashion to reveal strange and frightening stories they had heard about or experienced. The fact that she had controlled the situation gave Rachel and buzz and she was content to lie back and watch the fruits of her labour until Leshia got back. Fifteen minutes passed until finally the door to the Room of Requirement creaked open. Everyone stopped talking and looked up expectantly.

"Finally! It's about bloody ti…" Rachel trailed off and her eyes went wide. It wasn't Leshia that had finally come to find them, but someone very different. Julius Black stood and watched the group of stunned Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. The expressions on their faces spoke what a thousand words could not: Julius Black was definitely not wanted at this gathering.

"What are you doing here?" Rodeo demanded.

"How did you find the room?" Rachel added furiously.

"Leshia is in grave danger," the boy spoke very calmly, his cold eyes seeking out Leshia's closest friends who alone out of the group remained silent at his words. Everyone else rose to their feet in complaint.

"What have you done with her?" Rodeo demanded protectively. Julius Black took a step forward, refusing to cow to the angered Lions.

"I have done nothing," he told them firmly, looking once more to Katie and Rachel, who had both gone deathly pale at his words. "And if you all be quiet I'll explain. We have to act quickly, there's not much time!" Instead of heeding him the frustrated youngsters were taking out their pent up anger on the first scapegoat they came across. The Slytherin enigma waited them out, looking dark and brooding and exceedingly irritated with people who couldn't contain themselves intelligently and recognise that this was not a time for debating and pointing fingers.

"Be quiet, all of you!" The squabbling Lions fell silent and turned round to see Katie had risen to her feet, her face dark as thunder. "Listen to what he has to say. Julius what's happened to Leshia? Where is she?"

"Some of my fellow Slytherins invoked the services of a Mordgeist," he told the girl with a dark brow. "Mordgeists are dangerous and unpredictable and this one has been unsuccessfully trying to kill Leshia all year."

"What _are _Mordgeists?" Rachel interrupted.

"There's no time to explain. They're renowned for being unpredictable and difficult to control and this one's been lashing ever since they released it in the castle at the start of the year."

"Who released it?" Rachel next asked, far too impatient to allow the boy to speak.

"Rachel for the love of God will you just let him talk?" Katie admonished urgently. "Leshia's in danger!"

"I doubt you need me to tell me you who was the mastermind behind this plan," Julius told them darkly. "Damian Allseyer has powerful connections and spent his summer at his great uncle's house in Bulgaria. He got more than he bargained for when he was granted guardianship of the Mordgeist. He's barely escaped with his life on many an occasion." Julius Black paused while Rachel desperately wanted to intervene.

"Allseyer struck lucky in more ways than one when he came across his Mordgeist," the boy continued. "Because this creature had reason to hate the Malfoys more than most."

"Why?" Rachel couldn't help herself.

"That isn't my story to tell, but it does mean that your friend is in great danger because she is with the creature as we speak."

"What?" Now the whole group joined in.

"How is that possible?" Katie managed sounding shocked.

"I believe the creature took the form of her father and led her into a trap sprung by Damian Allseyer and his friends."

"Where are they now?" Rachel demanded.

"Somewhere far from here and difficult to get to and for that reason I can only take two of you." He was looking at Rachel and Katie, who automatically started towards him, but before they could reach his side Rodeo and Parys had stepped into their path.

"What are you doing?" Katie asked them threateningly, empowered by the fact that her dear friend was in danger and needed her help.

"Well obviously Parys and I should go, we're far stronger," Rodeo replied with equal vigour.

"Strength will not be an issue," Julius Black quickly cut in. "If all goes to plan we won't be fighting anyone."

"There, see it's settled, _we're_ going," Rachel said firmly.

"But what about…" Parys tried.

"Look!" Katie stated firmly, bristling from anger. "We're Leshia's best friends, we've grown up together and if she's frightened and hurt and lonely then you can bet she'd far rather see our faces than yours!" Katie's voice broke demonstrating how passionately she felt about Leshia's safety. The boys had no right to pick holes with her logic and insist upon going, so they nodded.

"Well hurry up then," Rodeo finally grumbled. "And don't you lot get captured too!" Julius backed out of the room with Rachel and Katie in pursuit leaving Rodeo and Parys at the forefront of a bristling group of youths wanting very much to go pelting after them.

In the corridor beyond the enigmatic Slytherin hero of the hour led Katie and Rachel in silence with the confidence of someone believing themselves free of the law. It did not matter that if they were to be caught they would surely be thrown into detention regardless of whether they were on a rescue mission or not. His all-too obvious knowledge of the teachers' movements was unnerving to say the least to the two girls following in his wake. What if this whole thing was an enormous setup? What if _Julius_ was the Mordgeist? The only thing that kept them going was Leshia's plight. How many times had their friend risked her safety for theirs? How many times had they supported each other over the course of their lifelong friendship?

Upon rounding the corridor the youngsters were on the home straight, the doors leading onto the grounds were in sight, when all of a sudden they ran into a spot of bother. Quite without warning Julius turned round and flung the girls into the shadows of a large statue of Godric Gryffindor. Indignant to say the least, Rachel was about to loudly voice her annoyance, but her objections never came. The telltale sound of prowling footsteps was approaching. They had been caught.

"Mr Black?" Draco's voice was cool and determined. Fearing what Draco would do were he to learn exactly why Julius Black was breaking curfew Katie shut her eyes tightly, praying to ever God she could think of to get them out of this mess.

"Yes sir?" Julius replied coldly, as in the open corridor the tall boy fell suddenly under shadow by the even taller teacher.

"May I ask what you're doing wandering about past curfew?" Draco next asked calculatingly. He could sense that Julius was acting in what he felt was a matter of great importance. Whatever the boy was about to say was a lie.

"I was actually just coming to find you sir," Julius replied coolly. Draco stared at the boy with one eyebrow dipped in curious disbelief.

"Me?"

"Yes." Behind their statue Katie and Rachel exchanged a wide-eyed look. Was there rescue mission merely going to inform Leshia's borderline-psychotic dad that she had been kidnapped by a homicidal monster? It would certainly do the trick, but wasn't quite what they had planned.

"Back in the room of requirement around twenty Gryffindors and Ravenclaws have broken curfew and are holding a meeting. I believe they have been doing so all year and have a better idea about what is going on that many of the teachers."

"You!" Katie couldn't help herself at this betrayal and flew out from behind Godric Gryffindor to find Draco staring at Julius in a subtle state of shock and Julius holding his cool very nicely. "You dirty rotten little sn…"

"Katie," Draco silenced her quite suddenly. Not wanting to be caught skulking in the shadows Rachel slinked out to stand beside her cousin leaving Draco watching the statue expecting the last member of the trio, but Leshia didn't appear. The steely-faced teacher turned his cold eyes on the Slytherin turncoat before him.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"Because Leshia's missing and they know where she is. They won't tell us where she is. They want to rescue her themselves. We were just coming to find you." The lie flowed so seamlessly from the boy's mouth that even Katie and Rachel were inclined to believe him. Though Julius' actions were questionable to say the least, the sudden murderous look on Draco's face was enough to silence the cousins.

"What's happened to Leshia?" the young man demanded so darkly Rachel shuffled back a little so that Katie's body concealed her slightly from Draco's furious expression.

"They wouldn't tell us!" Julius exclaimed sounding so distressed the girls weren't sure if he was still fooling their teacher. "Professor you have to go and stop them, they're about to head off." Draco though had become paralysed by the thought that his child was once more in danger.

"When did she go missing?" he demanded.

"About an hour ago," Katie now piped up firmly, not displaying any of the fear, worry and anger she was feeling. She wasn't sure what to make of Julius at this minute in time, but obviously Draco busying himself with the Lions was a good way to go about their business uninterrupted.

"Professor we left only a few moments before they did," Julius urged, perhaps a little too desperately, drawing Draco's suspicious gaze onto himself again.

"Take me to them," the teacher ordered dangerously.

"We have to go and tell the headmaster sir," Julius countered genuinely, his expression morphed into such a fashion that showed he would be surprised Draco would argue with them on this matter. Faced with such a sensible course of action, though not believing a word of it Draco was put in a terrible position. Leshia's safety or making sure these three stayed out of trouble? The choice was a no-brainer, as most of the Hogwarts student body would have put it. Since the influx of Salemers during Christmas, the school had been awash with all manner of foreign sayings that had driven the teachers mad.

"Go straight there!" Draco told the youngsters so forcefully Katie quickly darted back to Rachel's level and both girls nodded firmly. Julius too nodded calmly and without warning Draco was suddenly gone from their side, sprinting up the corridor towards the room of requirement. Only once the sound of his desperate rush to waylay his daughters' would-be-rescuers had died away did Katie and Rachel turn on Julius Black.

"Don't," the boy told them harshly. "Professor Malfoy was the one thing standing in the way. I'm sorry I had to use your little club as bait, but now it kills two birds with one stone. You can bet your _heroic_ friends are right behind us." Julius seemed so snide he evidently had more emotions about this matter than he was letting on. "Now let's go. Be quick about it."

Without a glance back at the cousins Julius made a run for the main doors and creaked them open. In his wake Katie and Rachel glanced at each other forebodingly, before the whisper of a grumpy meow was carried to them on the castle draught. Without thinking they sprinted after their traitorous guide. They had already escaped lifelong detention once that night and surely wouldn't be so lucky a second time? Besides, every second they wasted Leshia's chances diminished.

Julius had spared no time in crossing the school grounds and was already several dozen yards away from the girls. They ran after him and skidded at his side.

"Just how do you know so much Black? How do you have it all so careful mapped out?" Katie demanded. "Leesh suspected you all year you know. She knew you were in on it. And now you're leading us into our…"

"Potter stop being so melodramatic," Julius complained with a groan. "That's how you lot always get yourselves into situations like this. And for your information, it was Malfoy's pigheadedness that prevented her from looking past her suspicions of me and trying to find out what has been terrorizing the school."

"Well why couldn't you just tell us seeing as you seem to know everything!"

"We don't have time for this, so either you shut up and come with me and save your friend or you can stay here and bicker with yourselves." Julius Black had wheeled around, staring the girls down with an uncharacteristically impatient glare. Katie was all for continuing her tirade, but Rachel reached out and touched her shoulder.

"Katie think of Leshia," the redhead uttered meekly. Ever since Julius had revealed himself in the Lions' meeting revealing that once more her best friend was in peril she had felt indescribably forlorn. With a heavy sigh Katie nodded her head forward indicating Black lead them on. He visibly relaxed before nodding gratefully and turning on heal once more.

"Once he's led us to Leshia I'm going to bloody well curse him," Katie growled under her breath. Despite her sombre mood Rachel managed a snigger of delight at Katie's sudden feistiness. Indeed the image of her cousin cursing a quivering Julius Black was quite a nice change compared to the mental image of Leshia in pain and alone that Rachel just hadn't been able to shake from her mind.

After this the cousins obediently held their tongues, following Black's roundabout and covert path towards an unknown destination. For a frightening moment it looked as though they were heading towards the enchanted forest, but before they could reach it Black veered them away towards a large ominous tree every pupil at Hogwarts had by now learned to stay away from.

"Oh no," Rachel exclaimed in worry. "It's the Whomping Willow!"

"Black what are you playing at?" Katie demanded with the same suppressed anger she had wielded so impressively earlier. Julius ignored them and continued onwards until he was within reach of the aggressive tree, which had already started swaying it's sharp whip like branches in warning not to come near. Very slowly the boy reached for a long stick lying on the side of the bank. The cousins, stood much further away from the snaring branches of the willow exchanged a sidelong look of incredulity.

"He's bonkers," Rachel announced, her eyebrows high on her head, not entirely sure whether to be amused or fearful for the boy's safety. He was meant to be leading them to Leshia after all!

With the stick in hand the Slytherin enigma reached low across the ground with it, avoiding the lashing whips of the tree. It took an immense amount of concentration, but finally Julius reached the knot of wood on one of the immense roots that quite suddenly halted the tree's threatening display.

"How did you do that?" Katie managed in surprise.

"Never mind, just get in before anyone sees us."

"Get in where?" Rachel now asked, but Katie was already leading her towards the gap between two roots they'd never come close enough before to notice. Tentatively they approached, but when the tree showed no sign of coming alive again they hurried on. At the base of the tree the girls exchanged a look filled with emotions they couldn't express in words. Their eyes said it all.

"Here we go again," Rachel said ominously, before quite suddenly, she jumped into the darkness.

XXX

Parys and Rodeo, still on their feet staring at the door that Slytherin turncoat had led the girls through, waited about five seconds before they started towards it.

"Where are you going?" Ashley called after them once Parys had pulled the door open to a crack to peer out after the would-be rescuers.

"I'm not going to sit around twiddling my thumbs when Leshia's in danger am I?" Rodeo explained.

"But Julius Black said…" the girl began.

"Julius Black can bugger off if he says anything," Parys now joined in.

"Besides, he's not going to know is he?" Rodeo added. Before the Lions could say anything more to deter the boys they'd slipped out of the room shutting the door silently behind themselves. The others had already disappeared round a corner, but luckily Parys had seen which way they'd gone. Hurrying as quietly as they could the boys quickly caught up to within a stone's throw of the silent rescue party. The youngsters up ahead seemed to be focusing more on stealth than whether or not they were being followed.

"I think they're heading for the grounds," Parys whispered to his best friend.

"Me too."

"Wait a minute, isn't that…" Quite suddenly Rodeo dragged Parys inside an open classroom. Both boys had seen the massive hulk of Professor Malfoy on the prowl at the same time. In the distance the sounds of Julius Black confronting him were to be heard, but they couldn't make out what was being said.

"What's he saying?" Rodeo whispered, both boys pressing their ears firmly up against the wood of the door. Parys elbowed his friend gently in the side to shut him up. Who knew how far Professor Malfoy could hear? The man was borderline supernatural in their eyes, so who would put extra sensitive hearing past him with any real confidence?

It seemed like an eternity before the confrontation in the corridor was over; marked by the running footsteps of Professor Malfoy sprinting past the door the boys were hiding behind. Parys and Rodeo pushed themselves from the wooden door for fear that Draco might suddenly see them through its solid mass, but the footsteps kept going and after they'd faded away the boys creaked the door open hesitantly, peering out into the corridor to see Julius Black and the girls disappearing out the main door into the afternoon sunshine.

"Come on," Rodeo whispered to his mate and the boys headed out again. The main door within their reach they hurried forward, hoping beyond hope that they might reach it without being disturbed. Their wish was not granted, as hearing the commotion Draco had caused in interrogating Julius, another teacher had come looking for trouble.

"Holsson! Jackson!" Rodeo and Parys froze in their footsteps and turned round ever so slowly to find Professor Snape bearing down on them, his face livid with anger. They had to think fast.

"Professor Snape!" Rodeo called out to him and hurried forwards. Parys, oblivious to his friend's plan stared after the boy incredulously. What was Rodeo thinking? Parys' instinctual reaction was to run, far away and very fast! "We need your help!"

"What are you doing wandering around the castle on your own after curfew?" the Potions master demanded, sounding far from pacified by Rodeo's act.

"Sir there's no time to explain!" Rodeo panted, pretending as though he had been running. Parys quickly followed his lead, finding strength by Rodeo's convincing tale. "Professor Malfoy sent us to find as many teachers as we could find. Leshia's missing!"

"What?" Snape demanded after Rodeo had blurted out the story. "Where is Professor Malfoy?"

"Last we saw he was running that way towards Gryffindor!" Parys replied, managing to get his head round Rodeo's ruse.

"We have to find Leshia's mum sir." Not knowing that this was exactly the same trick Julius Black had pulled moments before on this very spot the boys were clinging to the hope that Snape would believe them and let his curiosity get the better of him into following Draco's footsteps back to Gryffindor corridor.

"Go straight to the staff room," Snape finally snapped icily. "If I find you went anywhere else…"

"Sir please, Professor Malfoy told us to hurry." Rodeo pleaded so convincingly even Parys believed the desperation in his tone. After one last ferocious glare at the boys Snape took off down the corridor, his cloak billowing behind him like an angry thunderstorm. The boys pretended to head off towards the staff room until Snape was gone from sight before they sprinted towards the door and escaped into the fresh air of the afternoon just in time to catch sight of the rescue party up ahead diving behind some bushes near to the forest's edge.

"Make a run for it before anyone else catches us!" Parys urged his best mate and together the boys sprinted as quietly as they could. They used none of Julius' caution and opted for speed not stealth. All they wanted was to get out of sight of the watchful school lest any teachers be looking out the windows. If they were caught now…well it didn't bare thinking about. Not only were they breaking curfew, they had just flat out lied to one of the most terrifying teachers in the school, who would have no doubts about expelling them on the spot when he saw them again.

At the bushes the boys threw themselves onto the grass and panted with relief. Finally they could breath a sigh of relief; they were out of sight and in the distance they could see the rescue party hurrying down a path. They would be able to follow them without the fear of being caught and expelled.

"I wonder where he's taking them," Parys thought aloud as the pair of best friends set off again, following at a sensible distance that would prevent the youngsters up ahead from hearing their hushed conversation or heavy footfalls.

"I hope it's not a trap," Rodeo replied, his brow creased in concern as he watched Katie in the distance. He cared for the girl and wouldn't want to see her hurt. Parys noticed.

"Do you still like Katie? After all that?" he asked incredulously. "Don't do it to yourself mate!"

"No of course I don't," Rodeo countered firmly and he elbowed the boy at his side in the ribs.

"Oy," Parys chuckled and shoved Rodeo so firmly he nearly fell off the path and into the thicket.

"I just don't want to see her get hurt that's all, not after what I did to her," Rodeo explained once he'd steadied himself.

"Hey that one can look after herself. I'm surprised you're still in one piece." Rodeo's face went pale and for a moment Parys wondered what he'd said that was so bad, but then he looked up ahead and saw it too: the Whomping Willow.

"What is Black _doing_?" the darker boy managed in shock.

"Quick, get off the path," Rodeo ordered and he shoved his friend into the bushes before jumping in after him. In their hesitation and worry down by the tree Katie and Rachel were looking about themselves unsurely and had very nearly caught sight of the boys hot on their tail.

"Rodes…"

"Shhh!"  
"No seriously!" Parys exclaimed sounding pained. "Get off me, I'm lying on a rose bush!" Rodeo quickly moved off the boy he'd flattened and instantly Parys rolled off the prickly stems in agony.

"Sorry mate," Rodeo managed with difficulty, as he was trying to suppress raucous laughter that would almost surely attract the attention of the others.

"It's not funny," Parys muttered in return, before he scrambled over the Rodeo's side to look out over the path towards the Whomping Willow. "Look!" he suddenly exclaimed in wonder. Rodeo did look and gasped in unison with his best friend. The pair of boys watched as Julius Black disappeared from sight under the Whomping Willow, which suddenly lurched alive again from being temporarily incapacitated.

"What the hell?" Parys managed, before quite suddenly he was dragged from the bushes onto the path again. "Man, stop dragging me around! I'll just go back again if you carry on like you're…"

"What and leave Leshia?" Rodeo called over his shoulder. "Come on! We have to follow them!" Without hesitation the boys careened down the path towards the infamous tree they had learned about the hard way their first term at the magical school. Not heeding the words of warning of the older pupils the boys had nearly lost an eye each trying to collect a wayward football from between its roots. The ball they had been forced to forfeit for their lives and ever since they had held a bitter grudge against the seemingly aware and very angry tree.

Once they reached the tree the boys stopped just out of reach of the tree's longest weapons, which had started thrashing wildly the moment the friends got near. Overly cautious of its powers, Rodeo and Parys exchanged a look of trepidation.

"So what now?" Parys asked meekly.

"Well there's got to be a way round it because look, they went through that hole," Rodeo complained, pointing out at the evident passage the rescue party had taken. Quite suddenly Rodeo yanked his hand back in agony. "Ouw!" he cried out furiously, sucking on his forefinger, which he had mistakenly thrust into the path of the tree's longest branch. "Damn tree let us past!" he yelled at it angrily.

"Mate calm down, there's got to be a way round it," Parys pacified his friend.

But the way round remained elusive to the young men. Time after time their attempts to get to the hole were thwarted by the overzealous tree. After dozens of attempts and countless more cuts and bruises the pair of would-be-rescuers dropped down on the bank facing the tree with matching sultry expressions. They were stumped.

Without a way past the Whomping Willow Julius Black could do what he liked to their friends and Leshia was lost to them. They had failed and the weight of their failure fell heavy on their wounded prides.

XXX

Ashley shifted on her cushion anxiously. Oh how she missed Nicola now. All around her the left-behind Blue Lions were in uproar about how Julius Black had found their meeting place and how they shouldn't have let Rachel and Katie go with him. Their protective older cousins Luke and Tom, usually so jovial and full of fun, were the loudest of the bunch, angrily insisting they get help straight away before Black could do their cousins any harm, while others thought that Leshia's kidnapping ought to be more of a concern.

Poor Ashley had no allies and stayed out of the fray. Hugging her knees to her chest she looked impossibly lonely and was about to stand up and march straight out of the room when the tables turned quite suddenly. The door burst open and a tall figure strode straight into the room. Two girls screamed and several of the youngsters who had risen to their feet suddenly darted back from the formidable teacher in the doorway.

"Where is Leshia?" Professor Malfoy demanded before the Blue Lions were even given a chance to compose themselves. No one could answer him. "I said," the tall teacher boomed over the hubbub powerfully. "Where is my daughter?"

"Sir…" Sarah Weasley began, but she trailed off unable to explain what had happened. How had the frightening teacher found them out? Only one pupil had the guts to stand up and face the teacher. Ashley was tired of all the nonsense and wanted very much for her dorm-mates to be saved by someone competent for a change. So with a heavy sigh she got to her feet and stood before the teacher.

"We don't know where she is sir," the girl explained simply. "She was meant to meet us just after class for our meeting, but she never showed up. Then about ten minutes ago that Julius Black boy from Slytherin somehow found out about the room and burst in here saying Leshia had been kidnapped and he took Rachel and Katie with him saying they were going to rescue her. Right after they left Rodeo and Parys followed them." Draco stared at the young lady with a murderous look. He'd been had. That artful, convincing, mysterious young Slytherin toe-rag had blind-sighted him with the news that Leshia was in danger and it had worked so effectively he accepted his lies without question. He'd let the boy get away and now had no power to get him back and find out where Leshia was!

Ashley shifted uncomfortably under the dark gaze of Leshia's father, not quite knowing who he was mad at.

"Kidnapped?" Draco finally spoke. Ashley quickly nodded.

"Well Black told us she was with this thing called a Mordgeist. We don't know what it is." Ashley stepped backwards as a look of horror materialised on Draco's face. Evidently though the youngsters had no idea what a Mordgeist was, the teacher did. Had he seemed frightening before, he was almost unbearable to look at.

A dreadful silence filled the room, in which everyone very gradually inched away from the murderous man in the doorway who seemed stuck in time, the same horrified expression on his face as though his worst fears were being realised. He had to get to Leshia before she found out…before it…he had to find her.

Before Draco could bring himself from his nightmarish reverie fast footfalls preceded the arrival of everyone's second most frightening teacher: Professor Snape. Had the Lions thought their luck couldn't get any worse, they all positively groaned the moment the greasy haired ageing Potions Master appeared at Draco's side. The arrival of his colleague brought Draco from his thoughts and he spun on his friend.

"Severus it's got Leshia," he told Snape with such significance that the other man's lips parted in surprise. "I'm going to find her, will you deal with this lot?" Quickly Severus Snape nodded, both so that his friend could go and find his child, but also for the opportunity to punish the rule breakers. He and Draco had been well aware that there was an underground group of students breaking countless school rules to try and find out what was going on in the castle, but when they had appealed to Dumbledore to crank down on the troublemakers the headmaster had refused them the power. Now they were exposed and as Snape had been waiting a long time to punish them he wasn't going to give that up for anything.

"Well go on then," the older man stated exasperatedly. Draco nodded once and sprinted back down the corridor leaving Snape to step into the room and shut the door behind himself. Each and every one of the Blue Lions shrunk away and felt dismayed; they were in so much trouble now.

XXX

Loud creaking snaked trough Leshia's woozy nightmares rousing her slightly from her injury-induced stupor. Fighting the heaviness in her head the girl forced her eyes open to slits revealing a gloomy room that seemed to be swaying. She was obviously in a building that hadn't seen the light of day for many years, and the only light source in the gloom came from the slivers of tired sunlight filtering through the boarded up windows. Dust covered the rotting furniture in thick waves and the scurrying of rats in the walls and floors was audible over the creaking of the derelict building.

Wincing in pain Leshia fought against the cruel ropes tied about her arms and legs so tightly she couldn't move. She had been unceremoniously dumped on the floor in the corner of the dim room. When her eyes adjusted to the light Leshia quite suddenly forced herself from the ground and pushes back into the wall, wanting very much to sink into it. The Mordgeist was watching her.

Having taken Draco's form again the beast was sat atop an old table, its arms about its knees staring the girl down with her father's eyes only recognisable as a creature of darkness by the soulless evil that lay within them. Leshia had never seen such fury on her true father's face. The beast was evidently beside itself with anger and the power it was exuding was making the youngster feel weak with terror. It was draining her such was its wrath. She was powerless against it.

"What do you…want from me?" the girl whispered, a sob interrupting her sentence and making her body shake with impending tears.

Quite suddenly the creature climbed from the table and started pacing the floor before the table. Its anger was increasing as could be seen by the way it shimmered in an out of shape. Darkness and flickering light forced the creature out of its shape every time Leshia uttered a sound, but the girl couldn't help it. She was terrified; unable to suppress her sobs any more than she was already doing. Every time one of them wracked her chest she forced it away, uttering a pathetic hiccup like noise. Each one angered the beast more making the subsequent noise louder as it became harder for Leshia to control herself.

"Please, I don't…" the girl began shakily. Her voice was too much for the beast, who quite suddenly lurched across the room with such inhuman speed Leshia's sobs escaped as she screamed and tried to scramble away.

The blow never came, as suddenly the door to the dusty room flew open revealing none other than Damian Allseyer brandishing a rectangular flat object at the beast. Whatever lay in the boy's hands was terrifying to the Mordgeist, which quite suddenly flew from Leshia's side and sought solace in the corner of the room, losing its shape and becoming a strange mass of light and shadow.

Though he was the last person Leshia could want to see in a situation such as this, even Damian Allseyer was better than no one and the girl felt better for his being there.

"What is that thing?" she asked him quickly. Cruelly Allseyer smiled at the girl, taking pleasure in seeing her more distraught than he'd even hoped was possible. Even while taking the brunt of his cruel fists he'd never seen the girl cry and right now, here in this desolate place, she was openly sobbing.

"Frightened are we Malfoy?" Suddenly the Mordgeist screeched in what could only be described as rage, it suddenly resumed the form of Draco and flew across the room towards Leshia, who screamed in terror. Once more Allseyer thrust the object in the creature's direction, forcing it back. The boy was shaking as he did so, not immune to the draining powers of the enraged monster. Once it had been held at bay he turned on Leshia, twitching as he did so.

"Give me that thing you're holding and you'd be scared too," Leshia cried out, her voice breaking between terror and anger. Allseyer smiled, his twitching giving him the impression of someone with a nervous tick.

"Do you want to know what this is?" he asked snidely. A whimper escaped the girl as a fresh wave of power from the Mordgeist washed over her. She couldn't help it. Though she didn't want to give Allseyer the smug satisfaction of capturing her curiosity, she _had_ to know what was controlling the creature and how Allseyer had managed to keep it contained all year. Jerkily she nodded and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

Allseyer smiled smugly and very slowly turned round the flat rectangular object to reveal its identity to the bound girl. Leshia stared at it in complete indignity and incredulity. Where she had been terrified a moment before now she seemed to have entirely forgotten about it and all that remained was the object in Allseyer's hands. It made no sense.

"It's a picture of my dad…"

Allseyer threw his hands over his ears as the Mordgeist roared its rage and escaped its corner heading once more for the girl. Leshia screamed in horror, rolling onto her side shielding her face with her knees. Once more though she was saved by the arrival of yet more Slytherins, all brandishing pictures of her father, thrusting them at the Mordgeist, backing it away into its corner now impossibly enraged. It was evidently having trouble retaining Draco's form and was flashing so quickly between light, dark and Draco that it appeared almost to be a strobe light.

Leshia looked up to see what had happened and struggled up once more to face her adversaries in as dignified a way as she could manage. They were all smiling cruelly at her while they fought to control the creature. Leshia barely heeded them, she had bigger things on her mind: her father.

Her immediate terror and anguish was having to make way for an even more powerful emotion; the girl's heart was slowly breaking. As she pieced together the fragments in her mind she was coming to a horrible inevitability. Her father and this creature were evidently linked, which was why it took his form and hated her so passionately. It also explained why Draco had gone so pale and frantic when he heard what had been terrorising the school. He knew of this creature.

But why would it be so terrified of her father? How could a man instil such instinctual terror in a creature capable of draining an entire room of hope? How evil did a man have to be to harness such power? Not a man…no man could wield such power.

Leshia's mind drifted back to the lesson at the Samian Greyfin pond. Defeating all logic and reality her father had been untouched by the devilish creatures. They had not gone near him. Had they too been terrified of him? A horrible truth was dawning on the poor traumatised child. Was her father a beast as well? Was he somehow inhuman…somehow evil? Was he the devil?

XXX

Julius Black used his lit wand to swipe away at cobwebs. His anger was cracking through his usually calm exterior and making him edgy while behind him Leshia's closest allies and friends muttered about traps and traitors. They were trying to lure him into an argument by accusing him of all sorts.

"How did you find out meeting anyway?" Katie finally demanded something new. Julius Black sighed and felt a slight relief at a new topic of conversation. He was surprised it had taken them this long to ask. Potter was supposed to be intelligent wasn't she?

"I stole Jackson's coin a few weeks ago," he replied simply. "It didn't take me long to work out how the coin worked and then it was simply a matter of following you straight to your meeting place."

Katie and Rachel exchanged a furious look. How had they been so stupid to lead this Slytherin rat straight to their secret place?

"I was nearly caught not long ago," the boy continued. "Your meeting had finished and I went in to see what you got up to when I found Malfoy on her own."

"She stayed behind to finish writing in…"

"She was crying," Julius interrupted simply.

"What?" both girls demanded in surprise and guilt.

"As I said, she was crying. That's why she didn't see me. She was hunched over, hugging her knees and crying about something." A deep pain washed over the cousins as they thought of their dear friend suffering in silence. They hadn't thought what this might be doing to her, to have her father called into question as a murderous fiend when she had just found out about his suspect past. On top of that she had been dealing with the impending arrival of a sibling. She was going to have to share the love of her parents barely two years after getting her mother back. They hadn't thought…

"Oh Leshia," Rachel sighed and tears stung her eyes. The cousins were silenced by his revelation of Leshia's secret weakness and suffering, and for ten minutes or so the boy revelled in the silence their guilty consciences provided him with. Sadly though, the silence didn't last.

"You could have prevented all this Black," Katie growled quite suddenly. "You could have told the teachers what was going on and stopped all this before it started. So many people have been hurt and nearly killed."

"It wasn't my place to…"

"Yeah right," the usually well-spoken raven girl grumbled belligerently. "You're a coward plain and simple. Too afraid of what the Slytherins would do to you if you gave it all away."

Up ahead Julius Black swiped furiously at a cobweb with his wand.

"Don't speak of what you don't know Potter."

"Well it's true isn't it? Either you were scared or you're in on it all and you're leading us into the same trap you lot led Leesh into."

"I'm helping you you idiot," Julius complained tetchily, loosing his impeccable manner.

"Well you could start by telling us where we're going and what's happened to Leshia."

"I already told you!" the boy seethed calmly. "I've been trying to help Malfoy all year. So I don't see how you can stand there accusing me. I'm taking you to her aren't I?"

"I can see that," Katie fumed, equally as angry as Black. "I just don't see why. Why _are_ you helping us?" Quite suddenly Julius Black spun around, a terrible anger in his strange pale eyes. Never before had he seemed so emotional and right now, at this very moment in time, he was equally as terrifying as Professor Malfoy in one of his darkest moods.

"I'm helping you because I'm meant to help you all right Potter? It's not like I have a choice!" With this the boy spun round and stormed ahead at such a pace the girls had to jog to catch up with him, only after they had exchanged a wide-eyed look though. They didn't dare push the boy any further, but his revelation had given them plenty to think about. What on Earth did he mean? Who did he answer to?

XXX

Rodeo and Parys stared at the wild tree with two equally bemused expressions. One sat with his chin resting on his palm, hunched over his knees in petulance, the other lay back, leaning on his forearms staring ahead with the bleak reality that the pair of them were being absolutely and utterly useless.

"I can't believe he let Katie and Rachel go instead of us," Parys finally grumbled moodily.

"I know."

"I mean they're a pair of girls. What good will they be?"

"Totally."

Another silence lulled over the best friends. With a heavy sigh Parys sat up at Rodeo's side and hugged his knees in a similar fashion.

"I can't believe you went out with Katie when all you had to do was make a move on Leshia and she would have gone for you." Where this had come from Rodeo wasn't sure, but he suddenly found himself staring at his closest friend in indignant surprise. Parys had never actually come right out and said the words he'd known the boy was feeling, and he knew they'd eventually slip out, but why now?

"What?" the fairer boy finally managed.

"You heard me."

"Yeah, but why'd you say it?"

"Because I don't see how you can sit here feeling as scared as I am when I just don't think you care as much about Leshia as I do." This was new to Rodeo who's jaw now dropped a little in surprise.

"What the hell are you on about?" he demanded angrily. "I've liked Leshia a hell of a lot longer than you have."

"Oh sod off who cares about the whole 'I met her first' line?" Parys countered grumpily, kicking at a small tuft of higher grass in annoyance. "If you cared about her even half as much as I do then you could never have even looked at Katie. All I see is her. I don't even think about other girls."

"Oh give over," Rodeo complained. "That's such crap! What about Helen Carter in Hufflepuff? You went on and on about her for weeks till she got crushed under that cabinet. Remember?"

"No," Parys bristled tetchily.

"You were going to ask her out that weekend, but then she had to go to hospital," Rodeo insisted. Parys twitched in annoyance, remembering it well, but now wanting to lose his moral high ground.

"What I would do if Leshia liked me as much as she likes you," the darker boy furiously grumbled. "She just doesn't feel the same about me as she does about you."

"She doesn't like me. She likes that moron in fourth year. Owen what's-his-name," Rodeo countered equally as tetchy.

"Yeah well she didn't used to. I can't believe you let her slip away. She's like the most amazing girl I'll ever meet."

The lovesick duo lulled into silence, both fighting the rising anger inside of them at being so totally and utterly useless as to actually sitting around in the afternoon sunlight while a pair of girls headed up the rescue effort of the girl they both adored. The weather was mockingly delicious. It was a real summer's day and birds innocently tweeted in chorus, insensitively oblivious to the gravity of the situation.

Rodeo threw a stone at the tree and exclaimed a profanity in anger. The stone bounced off one of the branches only rousing the boys into lobbing even more stones at the one thing standing in their way of being heroes. Stone after stone was rebounded only fuelling the pair's tantrums until finally the tree got lucky and sent of the missiles flying straight back at the attackers. It bumped Rodeo right on the head.

"Agh!" he cried out clutching his scull in agony. "Bloody tree!" he added in pain. Despite himself Parys suppressed a snigger, and then another one, until he couldn't possible control the third. Before too long the boy was rolling around in laughter. "Shut up!" Rodeo grumbled, though a smile was eking onto his face. "It's not funny." Rodeo though, couldn't contain his own laughter and soon the friend's made up wordlessly through their shared mirth.

"I'm sorry alright? I didn't mean to say that crap before I just feel so…" Parys finally sighed, the tension gone between the two friends.

"I know what you mean. We're totally useless just sat here doing sod all."

"Damn tree," Parys grumbled, to which Rodeo nodded in agreement. As though sensing their fury the tree paused momentarily almost pleased with the mischief it was causing. It soon came alive again though when two stones came its way.

XXX

Leshia shook in silence while the Slytherins lined up to watch her suffering as though she were an attraction at a zoo. She didn't want to give them the chance to see her in such agony, but try as she might Leshia just couldn't compose herself. The terror the Mordgeist was spreading and the weight of her own terrible thoughts were making it impossible to compose herself. She wanted so desperately to ask Allseyer what her father's connection was to the beast, but she wouldn't give him that satisfaction. She was not going to give him what he wanted. Allseyer was getting a little annoyed at Leshia's silence.

"Don't you want to know why it can be controlled with pictures of your pathetic father?" the boy demanded. Leshia hugged her knees tightly to her chest and shook her head. Angrily Allseyer stalked backwards and lowered his picture of Draco. The others followed his lead did the same allowing the beast to surge forward again. Leshia stiffened and prepared herself, but before it could reach her the Slytherins lifted their pictures again. The girl trembled in its wake, but still she stayed quiet.

Again the beast was released, being allowed to come within inches of the girl this time, but again she remained firm and didn't give the boy the satisfaction of having her grovel at his feet. Allseyer was getting angry. He wasn't immune to the tension in the room and even though over the year he'd learned to adjust to the fear the Mordgeist invoked in him, he still couldn't control his emotions around the creature.

Again he allowed it to be released this time it reached the girl and reached out to grab her, but the Slytherins forced it back. Leshia wept openly and hugged her legs even tighter to her front, shaking uncontrollably, unable to control the terror sweeping through her, so terribly ashamed to be going to pieces in front of the lowly Slytherins.

"Are you curious yet?" Allseyer demanded ludicrously, sounding as though he were losing the plot. Leshia shook her head firmly into her knees. Allseyer's anger was hidden over a shriek from the creature that was once more given permission to swoop forward, only this time the Slytherins allowed it to reach her. Once more assuming the shape of her father the creature's cold hands found Leshia's neck. Inhuman force squeezed the air from her lungs and all the girl could do was look up into the face of her father.

"Okay," she managed. "Stop it!"

Now it had its prey in its grasp the Mordgeist proved harder to frighten away by the pictures of Draco Malfoy, but finally it abated and fled to the corner of the room. Leshia panted, feeling her sore neck with tears streaming down her cheeks at her weakness.

"Tell me," she mumbled pitifully eliciting cruel laughter from the Slytherins.

Allseyer prowled the floor in front of the girl, little whirlwinds of dust springing into life in his wake. Leshia watched them mournfully, wondering whether it would be easier to give in and allow the beast to kill her now. What hope was left? Who was coming to her rescue? She didn't even know where she was. Lying bound on the floor…it just wasn't a fair fight.

"Where to begin," Allseyer finally crowed delightedly. "I couldn't believe what I'd let you do to me this time last year. I wasn't going to let you get away with it. You'd brought me to an all time low I'll give you that. My parents didn't want me around the house I was that out of it, so they sent me to my uncle's place on some desolate remote island in the middle of bloody nowhere."

"My uncle's mad. He's my mum's brother, a complete crackpot. Some say he was a Death Eater once, but he doesn't have the mark. He was too mad to help the Dark Lord, but he did fall into the possession of something very useful. He got tired of me cursing your name day after day, thinking up ways to get you back. My uncle couldn't stand the thought of anyone in his family being humiliated by someone in yours. He seemed to hate you more than I do and he'd never even met you."

"He took me to this room hidden away in the basements of his mansion. Imagine my surprise when I found it to be filled with pictures of that mudblood loving father of yours. I didn't understand, the room seemed to be empty, then I saw it. It didn't look the same back then, it had been weakened for too long. Back then, even the whisper of his name could keep the creature at bay. It's grown over the months of having free reign, but it's not free yet."

"Would you like to know why it's so afraid of your father?" Allseyer finally fell quiet after his informative speech. There was so much to take in. Leshia didn't want to give the boy any more pleasure and remained in a stony silence. "I said don't you want to…"

"No," the girl growled, clasping onto a pocket of defiance. Allseyer's face contorted in anger.

"Malfoy," he said simply. Across the room he creature roared and escaped its confinement.

"Yes! I want to know!" the bound girl cried out in shame, not wanting to feel its cold hands round her neck once more…not wanting to watch as the image of her father choked the life out of her.

"Well because of that I'm not going to tell you yet," Allseyer continued once his pet monster had been subdued once more. Leshia closed her eyes as tears streamed freely from them. Allseyer continued with his story, "All year we've been trying to get that stupid thing to finish you off. My uncle assured me it would the first chance it got."

"At first all it would do was follow you. It was so infuriating, but finally the tables turned. It heard you, the day you told your pitiful friends a piece of very useful information. Yes, father was most happy when I told him I'd found out about your father's dirty little double crossing secret."

Now Leshia's head lifted out of her knees, her face contorted somewhat in anger. SO she'd betrayed her father to this cretin unwittingly? The day she had told Katie and Rachel her horrible secret in the bathrooms, the day they'd felt they'd been watched…the Mordgeist had been listening. She had sold out her own father.

"You don't understand…" she tried to explain through a sob.

"No, you don't understand! He's been double-crossing all the way. He's a born traitor. He was a coward that betrayed every side that had taken him in and in the end he ran plain and simple."

"He killed Voldemort first!" Leshia furiously cried out.

"He ran _away_!" Allseyer countered with equal fury.

"He was protecting my mum!" At Leshia's words the Mordgeist became so overwhelmed with anger it roared with a bright light and suddenly surged through the wall blasting a massive hole through it and disappeared beyond into the rickety house. The moment it was gone Leshia's immediate terror dissipated leaving her empowered by its absence. She raised her head assuming a cool expression of fearlessness.

Damian Allseyer, evidently having seen this sort of behaviour before and knowing it didn't bode well rubbed anxiously at his neck. The sight of the boy made Leshia smile cockily. Just how she could muster such arrogance in times of crisis would be a question an onlooker might pose, but somehow Alecia Malfoy was cocky through to the core, even though it rarely did her any favours.

"Aww, what's the matter Allseyer? Did your new pet bite the hand that feeds it?" Allseyer snapped his cold eyes onto Leshia's dancing ones and bristled with a twitch.

"Oh you think this is funny do you Malfoy?" he demanded seeming suddenly quite deranged. Evidently constant exposure to the cruel beast had addled the boy's brains a little, or at least, so it seemed.

Leshia smiled at the boy and nodded her response. Allseyer shuddered under another massive twitch.

"Do you think it's funny your dad's a murderer?"

XXX

It was a glorious day. Sunlight was streaming in every single window of the castle basking its imprisoned occupants teasingly in a summer sunshine they couldn't possibly enjoy. Even though their situation was dire, none could fail but smile a little when the rays warmed their faces. It was summer after all and soon they would be free.

Only one sat in a stream of light and warmth desolately alone, incapacitated and unmoving. Draco Malfoy had lost all strength when he knew where his daughter was and what she was with. The shaft of sunlight streaming in the thin slit of a window in the stairwell he'd stumbled into lit up the man's cold grey eyes filled as they were, at this moment, with tears; tears that had not fallen. He couldn't fight it anymore. He couldn't be strong, not when Leshia was going to find out what he'd done that terrible night…

_It was cold, colder than it ought to be on a warm June night. A damp and sticky mist had been closing in for weeks now as Voldemort's army of Dementors ravaged the country. Newly turned eighteen-year-old Draco watched the eerie vapour dancing about the trees in the wood he'd spent the last three hours traversing through, trying to find the right spot, the place where he'd agreed to meet him…_

_With a sigh the young man looked down at his hands and flexed them, reliving that morning's events where Hermione had taken hold of them in happiness. He had brought the Order of the Phoenix great news that day and she had been so overjoyed she had rushed to his side, taking hold of his hands and dancing him about the kitchen. Everyone had been so happy with him, even Molly Weasley his greatest critic had gratefully pinched his cheek and offered him a smile._

_They couldn't know the information he'd fed them was a lie…a lie fed to them by the very enemy they were fighting. Draco shifted uncomfortably on the log he'd been using as a bench for the last hour or so. It wouldn't be long before this very wood saw a battle so great it would go down in history as a turning point in the Wizarding world. It was going to be epic. A heavy sigh escaped the young man as he thought of Hermione Granger and what would happen to her when…_

"_Stop being so weak," he grumbled and clenched his fists, fighting away the joy he had felt at Hermione's touch._

_A crack filled the night's sky and suddenly a massive hulk of a man stood before the younger one. Only an hour late the Auror simply known was Tobias had finally arrived at the meeting place he had arranged. Not officially a member of the Order of the Phoenix Tobias was a lone ranger working for the ministry. Draco didn't trust the man and had been alarmed when he found out Tobias wished to meet with him. Indeed, he had very nearly not dared to show up._

"_Malfoy," Tobias greeted the teenager coolly. Draco quickly rose to his feet and nodded to the wizened auror._

"_Tobias," he replied in a similar tone._

"_I suppose you're wondering why I called you here?" Surprised that Tobias was getting straight to the point Malfoy quickly nodded. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end and despite himself he shivered a little. He still seemed so very young to the auror stood opposite him._

"_Considering we've never even spoken I think 'wondering' is putting it a little mildly," Draco replied bemusedly turning to arrogance in his insecurity. Tobias' mouth curled up in a twisted smile. _

"_We might not have spoken Malfoy, but I know _all_ about you." Draco lowered his head, his cold eyes meeting with Tobias' peculiar two-tonal eyes. One green, the other hazel, they had always irked Draco when he caught their gaze across a crowded room. It gave the grisly auror the impression of being two people within one._

"_What do you mean by that?"_

"_It means I _know_ Malfoy. The game's up." Draco shifted uncomfortably, his heart racing in his chest, the skin on his forearm beneath the cruel brandished Dark Mark itching._

"_I don't know what you're talking about." The Goosebumps returned making the young man rub his arms to keep the chill at bay._

"_Oh yes you do. I know what you've been up to, who's side you're really on." Now Draco snapped and he whipped out his wand with the speed of someone who had become jumpy in his treachery. Even the hardened auror didn't have time to react._

"Expelliarmus_!" the youngster cried out and within seconds the auror's wand lay in his hand. What Draco hadn't expected was for the hulking man to suddenly lunge at him throwing him off guard. He had been position awkwardly on the edge of a slight slope to begin with and now at this unfortunate assault both men went tumbling down landing in a shallow stream. When Draco dragged himself to his feet he found to his dismay that both wands had disappeared from his hand._

_Tobias too had raised himself from the stream and faced off with the young traitor stood before him._

"_You're fast," he growled, almost as an accusation. "But not fast enough. It won't save you. You're going to be locked away for your sins boy."_

"_You don't understand!" Draco furiously countered._

"_Oh? Don't understand you've been betraying us and getting innocent men and women, _good_ men and women, killed?"_

"_It's not like that!" Once again he boy stood before the man shivered with Goosebumps._

"_Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater Malfoy. McGonagall and Dumbledore should have listened. No one ever really trusted you and now I've got the proof they've been waiting for for a long time."_

"_Hermione trusts me," Draco countered passionately, feeling his grip sliding away. He couldn't control this…he didn't know what to do. How could he stop this horrible reality from unfolding before his eyes?_

"_Yes, that's unfortunate," Tobias growled. "She'll get over you though, mark my words. There are far better men worthy of her love out there. You mark my words." Draco twitched and shook his head._

"_You're wrong." A silent sob wracked his chest as he imagined Hermione's face when she heard of his lies…of his treachery…of his evils. She would hate him. She would hate him forever. "You can't tell them. It's not the way! I'll change!"_

_Across from the teenager Tobias laughed cruelly._

"_You treacherous _coward_!" he sneered. "Don't even have the guts to stand by your convictions, treacherous though they may be. What will you do Malfoy? Keep changing sides forever to suit your needs?"_

"_No!" Draco roared passionately, the image of Hermione's face filled with anger and dismissal of him not leaving his mind's eye. He couldn't lose her. Even after he'd lied to her in the worst possible way…she had changed him…he would never betray her and he would not see her harmed. The edge he'd been teetering on for the last few months suddenly dissolved leaving only one path clear to him now: he had to help Hermione and the others defeat the Dark Lord he'd served his whole life. He had to turn coat on the people he'd been double-crossing for. He would make good of his wrongdoings, he would use his contacts in Voldemort's ranks to bring the Dark Lord down…all that stood in his way was Tobias._

"_Give it up Malfoy, you're going away for what you done. You'll never have her." Suddenly Draco snapped and lunged forward, once more catching the large auror off guard. A feverish passion was empowering Draco and weakening his enemy. His large hands gripped about the neck of the man while tears streamed down his eyes. _

"_I'm sorry," he cried out as he strangled the man beneath him. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you ruin it. I have to…"A shiver ran up Draco's arms as he choked the last breath from Tobias leaving him staring lifelessly into nothingness. Quite suddenly a power surged through Draco's arms and flung him back. With wide eyes the young man watched as a bright light twisted into shadow over the body of the once-auror Tobias. Feeling sick and wanting to wretch Draco forced himself to watch as the light and shadow above Tobias' body took human form._

_For the briefest of moments Draco cried out when a face materialised in the shadowy figure before it tore off into the night. Without restraint Draco wept and bent over double expelling a lunch he'd eaten many hours before. The face he had seen…that face…it had been his own. What had he done?_

Draco's tears dried up before he let them fall. He had not cried since that night. His past was so shameful, but this was the very worst of his sins: the killing of an innocent man at his own hands. He would never be able to atone for this. After that awful terrible night he led the Order of the Phoenix to victory and along with Harry Potter defeated Voldemort in battle. He never would have assured the upper hand for the Order had he not been a turncoat, they never could have won they were so outnumbered. Draco could live down his treachery in the fact that it had saved the day, in a way, but what he had done to Tobias…he would never live that down.

Shortly after that awful awful night Draco found out what the peculiar apparition was that had appeared after the act. He learned what Mordgeists were and how they were created when a harmless spirit 'Devil' passed through the body of someone being murdered. The creatures were thankfully very rare, as they were perhaps one of the most evil beings to wander the earth, impossible to destroy and only to be controlled by the one they feared most in all the world: the murderer that had created them. Draco had created a Mordgeist that night, which, unusually, had taken his form. This was the rarest type of Mordgeist of all. The creatures usually assumed the form of the victim because usually the victim's emotions were the more powerful: fear of death was one of the most powerful of all emotions. However, in Draco and Tobias' case the teenager's emotions, those of guilt and pain, had overpowered those of the unfortunate victim and the Mordgeist had been forced to assume the form of the man it feared most.

And now this Mordgeist was with his child. She was in such grave danger. Suddenly Draco climbed to his feet his resolve renewed. His past was shameful and he would never be able to atone for the worst of his sins, but his future was bright and full of hope. If he could get to his child before she found out what a monster he was then he could save his family. Suddenly in control again Draco strode from the stairwell with a face of stone. He was going to put an end to this.

XXX

Leshia had sat and listened to the whole story and she was in shock. Allseyer had been delighted when his father came back to him with fantastic news, that he had found out the very worst of Draco's secrets at Damian's revelation that Draco had been a turncoat. This revelation had allowed Allseyer Senior to dig deep into Draco's past and find out the whole story. Allseyer's uncle had not known who Draco had killed to create the Mordgeist, but now the story was out and Damian had been gleeful to find it out.

Leshia sat in silence while Allseyer basked in her agony. She had been unable to stop the tears streaming down her cheeks when she found out about this Tobias man her father had killed. That this was the reason a Mordgeist had been created and wished nothing more than to see her killed in a similar fashion. The girl had lost the power of speech altogether such was her distress.

"So how does it feel Blood Traitor?" Allseyer demanded snidely. "To find out in your closing moments that your precious daddy was a murderous coward? This Mordgeist hates you most in the world and when we leave this room it's going to finish you off."

Leshia stared up at her nemesis with her father's eyes. Her tears had long dried up and now she just stared, coolly and calmly waiting. She would not give him any more satisfaction at seeing her afraid or upset. Allseyer looked into Alecia Malfoy's eyes for the last time and narrowed them in contempt at the nonchalance that lay in her cocky gaze. He had emotionally torn her to pieces and yet there she sat, unbroken and unwavering. What more could he do?

"Malfoy!" the boy roared as loud as he could, before he smiled evilly and ran from the room slamming the door shut in his wake. Leshia heard the cowardly Slytherins cackling loudly as they descended the stairs beyond her prison room and then there was nothing but the sound of Leshia's shivers and sobs in her chest.

Like a little girl Leshia pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face in them as the only comfort she had and wept. The terror was rising again in her chest as the Mordgeist began closing in. Incapable of remaining strong Leshia gave up on any hope of salvation and lifted her eyes slowly to the door as it creaked open. In walked what ought to have been the most comforting sight of all, but this man had not come to sooth away her fears as the original would have done, he had come to kill her. What a cruel way to go, the girl thought miserably.

"He didn't mean it you know," the girl found herself uttering in a shaky voice barely recognisable as her own. The Mordgeist slowly approached her, murderous with rage and anger. "He never had a chance with the upbringing he had. He's changed. He's a good man now. He helped kill Voldemort. He's not a monster anymore. You don't understand…I love him, he's my dad!"

At these last words the monster lost control and quite suddenly in a flicker of light it had bore down on the girl, it's cold inhuman hands round the small girl's neck. Without a hope in the world Leshia shut her eyes, not wanting to see that face she had sought for comfort her whole life, hovering above her as he choked the life from her. A tear rolled from her eyes as Leshia thought of her mother's agony when she found out what had happened…and when she found out about Draco's past. What a sorry way to end it all.

"Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy!" a chorus filled the room after the sound of the heavy door slamming into the wall filled the room. Leshia wrenched her eyes open in time to see a large picture of her dad force the beast from her neck and sweet air filled her lungs once more.

"Katie! Rachel!" the girl managed as her best friends swooped down on her, soothing her agony with their embraces. Leshia wept tears of joy as they unbound her arms and legs and helped her to her feet. Across the room Julius Black had forced the beast back, which simply couldn't handle his chanting and the colossal picture of its worst fear and without hesitation it fled through its previous hole punched through the wall.

"Quick! We have to get back!" Black called to the girls. Leshia stared at the boy incredulously.

"You?" was all she managed.

"We'll explain later, come on we have to hurry," Katie insisted and she and Rachel supported Leshia out of the room and down the winding staircases of the Shrieking Shack to the entrance way to the tunnel. Sensing their escape quite suddenly the Mordgeist blocked their path. Again Black started his chant and forced the beast back with the only weapon that worked.

"Go without me, I'll keep it back," the boy called to the girls.

"What about you?" Leshia demanded to know.

"It doesn't want me, it wants you. Now go!" Without needing to be told a third time Katie and Rachel dragged an unwilling Leshia down into the tunnel.

XXX

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with T," Rodeo drawled in a bored way. At his side Parys sighed heavily and glanced about their surroundings with a meek shrug.

"Tree."

"Nope."

"Tower?"

"Nope."

"Trampoline."

"Trampoline? Where do you see a trampoline?" Rodeo asked amusedly. Parys shook his head in annoyance.

"I wish we had a bloody trampoline I'll tell you that. How much longer are they going to be?" As though his wish were being answered quite suddenly the tree stopped waving about and a head started emerging from the hole. Rodeo and Parys jumped to their feet and watched in amazement as the Slytherin thug Harry Stump emerged from the hole between the roots of the Whomping Willow. Both boys instantly reached for their wands before the vile boy noticed them.

"_Expelliarmus_," Rodeo yelled angrily and from the back pocket of Stump's jeans his wand was stolen from him by an enemy he hadn't even seen yet.

"Oy!" the boy cried out, but before he could dodge out of the way Rodeo had cursed him.

"_Furnunculus_," he cried out reducing Stump to a snivelling boil-covered wreck on the ground. Suddenly a curse lit the afternoon sky just barely missing Rodeo and Parys who dove to the side as four more Slytherin ruffians emerged from the tree. A further one they disarmed from their hiding places, but three remained armed. What followed was a fray unlike any other the boys had seen. Luckily they had read up about a lot of hexes and curses as a little bedtime light reading and had plenty of ammunition, but they were dealing with Slytherin bullies who had their fair share of ammo to dish out.

Rodeo and Parys were on the losing end, catching painful hex after painful hex, while the wandless boys tried to manually take them out. Their double team effort was making it hard for the Slytherins, but not impossible and all in all the best friends weren't sure how long they could keep this up. All that was keeping them going was the knowledge that these thugs had caused Leshia harm.

Just when it looked as though all was lost – Rodeo lay in a heap on the ground, his wand taken, his nose broken and Parys stood surrounded – wand fire filled the grassy slope once more. Katie, Rachel and Leshia, now slightly recovered, emerged from the hole beneath the Willow armed and fighting. Without even having time to express joy at Leshia's safe return Parys retrieved his best friend's wand for him and helped the boy up to continue with the fight between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"You!" Allseyer cried out when he saw Leshia alive and well. "No!" his roar was one filled with emotion and fury.

"Yes," Leshia cried back at the boy. "Me! When are you going to learn Allseyer?" Leshia dodged a curse sent blunderingly in her direction. "You're _never_ going to beat me. Understand?" Allseyer's subsequent cry of outrage was overpowered by a roar from deep underground. Before the youngsters had time to react a terrible fear crippled them. Out from under the Whomping Willow the Mordgeist emerged having left Julius Black unconscious in the corridor beyond, his valiant efforts to contain the beast just not valiant enough. With so much confusion the beast lashed out at any that moved. It was no longer to be controlled. It was free and liked it!

"Allseyer, stop it!" Archie Dregon, Allseyer's number two man, cried out snivelling and unable to contain his terror.

"I can't!" the Slytherin cried back, he more cowardly than his man. "Run for it!"

And so the Slytherins bolted to the cheers of the Gryffindors. Only one started backing away, the sober look never leaving her face. The Mordgeist had finally found its prey and this time, nothing way going to get in its way. Quite suddenly taking Draco's form the beast was before Leshia, lifting her from the ground by her throat, its face so contorted in anger the fine features of her father no longer resembled him when mutated so grossly. This was little of comfort to Leshia and her frantic friends though.

XXX

Draco saw the flashes of light down the slope leading to the Whomping Willow and knew instantly that this was where the showdown was occurring. Hoping he wasn't too late he sprinted from the castle joining a general throng of teachers towards the commotion. While they remained to placate fleeing Slytherins Draco raced on. In the distance he could see a sight that tore at his heart and nothing could stop him now. With the supernatural speed of a father about to loose his child, Draco crossed the distance between himself and that creature holding his daughter by the neck and did not stop running when he reached it. The Mordgeist stood not a chance against the rugby tackle of Draco going full speed and found itself flung down the slope.

Within seconds Draco was on his feet and the Mordgeist could see that before him stood his worst fear. It lost its shape instantly, shrinking to a small ball of trembling light and shadow.

"Be gone from this place foul beast and _never_ return!" Draco cried out at the creature. Unable to refuse its creator the Mordgeist was quite suddenly gone. The castle and all its occupants were safe.

When he was sure the creature had vanished Draco spun around to see Leshia slumped on the grass, her whimpering friends fawning at her side. Within seconds he'd dropped down at her side, reaching out to feel her neck for a pulse. For a split second dread filled his heart and Draco felt his own breath leave him at the thought that his child had perished because he was too slow to save her, but with a tremendous sigh that wracked his whole body Draco felt the faint pulse.

"She's alive," he told her friends and ushered them away to lift the girl easily from the ground.

"Sir Julius Black is down under the tree still. We don't know if he's alive or not." Rachel quickly told Draco worriedly. Draco glanced at the tree and then up the slope to see more teachers approaching. Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall were amongst them. Without a word to the girls Draco lurched towards them.

"Julius Black is still in the passageway. They don't know if he made it," he explained gravely to the headmaster.

"Was it the Mordgeist?" the age-old wizard asked the young man. Draco nodded slowly and shifted his daughter's unconscious weight, the blue marks of the creature's fingers about her neck were becoming clear in the waning light of the afternoon.

"Yes, but it won't be coming back. I've made sure of that." Albus looked the young Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in eye gravely and finally nodded before his eyes fell to Leshia's unconscious form.

"Go quickly, she needs Poppy's help," Dumbledore suddenly exclaimed and after one last look Draco hurried up the grounds. His walk to the hospital wing was unhindered and soon he reached the commotion. Slytherins and Gryffindors were bickering while teachers tried to pacify them and see to their wounds.

"Silence!" Draco called out over the chaos with a power none could disobey and everyone looked to him as he placed Leshia's unconscious body down on a bed. "All of you will have detention every evening for the rest of this term for your unconscionable behaviour out on the grounds, if you do not want this punishment to extend into the new school year then you had better keep quiet. All of you!"

Amazingly the group of riled up youngsters kept quiet and allowed Madam Pomfry to see to her most in-need charge. Leshia was soon revived and shakily she sat up on the bed, looking with wide eyes at her father sat beside her.

"Dad…" the girl began in a whisper, when suddenly the doors to the hospital wing were flung open once more and Snape emerged with the unconscious form of Julius Black in his arms. The boy bore similar markings to Leshia about his neck.

"Another one for you Poppy," the Potions Master called out. The Slytherins all stared in shock at the body of the boy they hadn't known was with them. What had Julius Black been doing and where had he been hiding? The commotion died down when Draco cast the Slytherin bunch a foul look, before he earnestly looked back to his daughter.

"Dad there's stuff I know now…" the girl managed mournfully. "Stuff I don't…I don't understand. Allseyer found out stuff from the Mordgeist about you betraying mum and the others? He told his dad and…" Quite suddenly Draco had lurched forward and hugged his daughter firmly. She returned his embrace, seeking out the comfort she had missed.

"I can't explain any of this now," he told her hurriedly. His mind was whirring; he'd just worked it all out. The notes, the threatening letters, the errands. His unnamed blackmailer had just been given a name.

"But dad I don't want you to explain. I don't want to know. I just want it to be over," Leshia mumbled and ashamedly she realised she was crying. Draco pulled back and pushed the tears away with his thumbs, leaning forward to kiss his daughter's forehead.

"I have to explain when you're ready to hear it," he said simply. For now he was relieved, whatever it was that Leshia did or didn't know, she still loved him. He could see it in her face. All was not lost. The youngster nodded weakly. "Baby I hate to leave you, but there's something I have to go and do urgently."

"Dad don't leave me," Leshia countered desperately. "Please don't go." Again Draco embraced the girl trying to hug away her fear.

"I'll be back. I promise." He pulled away and got to his feet, hating himself for leaving her when she looked so alone and in need of his comfort and protection. "You still trust me don't you?" Leshia stared into her father's eyes and thought of everything that had happened, of everything she had found out about him. She couldn't believe what he had been, how much he had changed, but he _had _changed. That was all that mattered.

"Yes I trust you," she whispered. Draco couldn't fight the smile that crept onto his face as he backed out of the room and raced to the nearest fireplace. It was time to pay a visit to Allseyer Senior.

XXX

Albus Dumbledore was tired. It had been a very long day and one he wasn't entirely sure had been properly resolved. With the Slytherins and Gryffindors in detention for their brawling in the gardens, he wanted very much to see that certain characters were punished for their role in bringing terror to the school, but now one was pointing any fingers. It was obvious who had caused all the grief, but innocent until proven guilty was the ethos of the free world and Hogwarts was no exception. With no one to lay the blame at a certain young man's doorstep, Albus could do nothing. He had gladly announced to the school (and the press) that Hogwarts was safe again and that thankfully the curfew had been lifted, but still he felt uneasy with the way it had all worked out.

The was growing to old for this sort of excitement, the old man decided. He was tired. And yet he wasn't going to turn in for the night before a good friend had come to pay him a visit. He'd been waiting all night, but finally, it seemed his friend had arrived. Better late than never.

A soft knock and a brisk response by the headmaster allowed the door to be pushed open revealing the stony face of Draco Malfoy. In one hand he carried a sack and in the other a letter. Slowly the young man wandered in and stood before the old wizard's desk. He seemed impossibly grave. After lowering the bag carefully onto the headmaster's desk Draco lifted the letter in Albus' direction.

"What is that?" the head asked curiously, his twinkling blue eyes seemingly amused. Draco gulped away his hesitation.

"It's my resignation Albus," he replied shamefully. Albus looked from it to the sack on his desk containing the items that had been going missing from his study and from his school all year. He didn't need to open it to know this.

"And why are you resigning?" the old headmaster next asked. Draco seemed incredulous.

"I thought that much would be obvious."

"What is obvious to me Draco is that you are an excellent teacher with a history that has finally caught up with him." Dumbledore sighed and shook his head. "Draco the full extent of your past actions are a mystery to me and I feel they ought to stay that way. We should all have our secrets."

"Albus I stole from you," Draco quickly interjected passionately. "I'm not a changed man! At the slightest upset I gave in."

"Draco I have known all year who was taking these objects. I trusted you to return them and now you have." Draco closed his eyes.

"Albus you can't trust me, you don't know what I've done."

"Oh yes I can Draco, I would trust you with my life."

"I betrayed you all!" Draco suddenly exclaimed passionately, his grey eyes finally lifting to the comforting gaze of the old headmaster. For a moment Dumbledore's face creased in sadness, before he nodded.

"I know," he finally sighed. "I have always known." Draco couldn't hide his shock.

"You knew all along? You knew what I was?" Again the headmaster nodded.

"I had faith that you would eventually come around. I had faith in _you_. I have never known the exact point at which you turned to our side, but turn you did. You made the right choice in the end Draco and you overcame your difficult start in life to bring an end to a war that was threatening millions. You shone through. I have always had faith in you."

Before the venerable old headmaster Draco slumped into a chair. All this time he had been carrying a dark and terrible secret, but it was one that had not been his alone to bear.

"I knew you must have been taking these things for a reason," Albus continued, indicating the sack. "I suspected you were being blackmailed, which is why I allowed you to take them. I had faith they would be returned. Draco your life is coming full circle. You must accept that you have atone for your sins." At this the younger man looked up and very slowly shook his head.

"Albus I can never atone for the atrocities I have done," he whispered. Dumbledore sighed and shook his head.

"You must accept a new chance, a new life filled with light. You are to become a father again Draco and your new child will be born under light and purity. It will be free of your past misdoings and you will not have to worry. I fear for Leshia though, she was born under the shadow on your heart and this is a shadow she will never be free of. She will never be as pure as her sibling. You must guide her on this path and therein you will find the atonement you seek. Though you may not realise it now, you will die a free man Draco. You will not forever labour under the weight of your past."

XXX

Just how things got back to normal as quickly as they did was mind boggling to the pupils at Hogwarts, not least those who had had a hand in the showdown at the Whomping Willow. Leshia, Katie and Rachel were the only ones who did not have to work out their detentions for the rest of term and wiled away the last week of school in the sunlight. The blonde girl would not tell the others what had happened and buried the new information she'd been told under a heavy wall of denial. Her relationship with Draco had only strengthened and the family was as close as ever.

After Draco had fled the Hospital Wing Leshia had suffered only a few moments as moments later her mother had wobbled in and comforted the distraught girl. Hermione was a pillar of strength and Leshia had clung to her mother like a little girl and not let go till she was forced to get some sleep later than evening. Even then she had insisted she be allowed to stay at her room in the family quarters. Since then she had relaxed into her former self. Her rebound had been so complete that Damian Allseyer avoided her in the corridors for fear of what she was going to do him. Leshia didn't in fact know how she was going to enact her revenge on the boy, but it was fun pretending.

Julius Black, acting as though nothing had happened, slunk back into the shadows, not even glancing at the Gryffindor he had rescued. Leshia and her friends had gone over the events of that fateful day many times into the wee hours of the morning and none could decide what to make of the boy. For now, they would leave him to his seclusion. He wasn't going anywhere and everyone was too exhausted for yet more drama.

The results of the exams brought about a premature celebration in Gryffindor tower on the last Thursday of term. Leshia had done the near impossible once more and achieved a full sheet of Os. Hermione could not have been prouder of the girl and she made this very clear. Something Leshia was stupidly proud of.

XXX

Leshia woke up in the early hours of Friday morning to an incessant poking. She groaned and rolled over to see who was bothering her and recoiled at the sight of the green houself that went by the name of Tally. A long-serving elf of the Malfoys Leshia hated the cretin and was worried as to why it had come to wake her up long before the train was due to shepherd everyone back to London.

"What do you want?" Leshia groaned moodily at the creature.

"Miss Malfoy must come to the hospital wing at once!" Tally insisted. Leshia sat up straight knowing instantly what had happened.

"Oh God," she uttered. She scrambled from her bed and pulled on a massive quidditch jumper and her school shoes, before she rushed from the dormitory. She couldn't think straight as she traipsed down the stairs in Gryffindor tower and ambled out into the corridor beyond. Though her mind was going a million miles a minute, she couldn't get her body to go any faster and it took her a long time to reach the hospital wing doors. Reaching out to touch the wood of the grand doors Leshia found she couldn't do it. She couldn't go in.

She was paralysed by dread and worry.

"I can't do this," she managed and dropped her head against the door in defeat. "I don't want this."

Quite suddenly the choice was wrenched from her hands as the door suddenly gave way. Someone had opened it from the other side causing Leshia to fall forward into Professor McGonagall.

"There you are," the ageing teacher chuckled and she quickly ushered Leshia inside before hurrying out again. A curtain drawn on the other side of the hospital wing concealed Leshia' worst fears. Life wasn't going to be the same again. She would never again command the sole love and attention of her parents. She was going to have to share…  
"Oh Draco isn't she beautiful," Leshia heard her mother coo from across the hospital wing. A stab of pain shot up Leshia's back and made her stumble.

"She," the girl repeated silently. A sister. Leshia started backing away from the dreadful scene unfolding before her and wished that it could all be a nightmare. She didn't _want_ a sister. She didn't want to have to share her family with an interloper, with an intruder, with a stranger!

Almost at the doors and with escape in mind Leshia suddenly backed into a solid figure that smelled slightly of peppermint. She wheeled around to find none other than Albus Dumbledore staring at her with a twinkling smile. Without a word to her he nodded his head towards the curtain indicating Leshia go forward and make herself known. With no escape in sight Leshia gulped and shook her head. She didn't want to go over there. Dumbledore though didn't move and remained implacable by the door.

Feeling a burning sensation in her eyes Leshia glared at the headmaster and turned around once more striding purposefully towards the curtain shielding her from her worst nightmare. Once she'd reached its side she hung her head and fought back the tears.

"She looks exactly like you," the girl could hear her father uttering softly, amazement in his voice. Next Hermione snorted.

"No, she's the spitting image of Leshia, only darker."

"They do look alike. Where is Leshia? I sent that elf to get her twenty minutes ago!" Gulping away the last of her anguish Leshia steadied herself and shuffled out from behind the curtain. She nearly looked away. There it was…there was her sister. Hermione lay bedridden with her husband sat up on the bed at her side. In her mother's arms lay a bundle of baby, wispy dark curls peeping out from under a little woollen hat and large brown eyes that stared unmoving at Hermione's face. In that instant a shadow engulfed Leshia's heart.

Her parents didn't notice their oldest daughter at first. They were too concerned with watching the newest addition. Their indifference to her broke Leshia's heart further and she nearly turned away, but then she was noticed.

"Leshia!" Draco exclaimed in surprise. The girl's eyes didn't leave the baby.

"Darling look, you have a sister!" Hermione now exclaimed joyously to her firstborn, whose expression didn't change. Draco now climbed off the bed and walked over to Leshia who recoiled a little when he reached out to guide her towards her mother.

"Sweetheart I know it's a shock, but come and see her, you'll feel better," Draco tried to assure the girl and he firmly took hold of her shoulders and almost frogmarched her to the bed. The new father made Leshia sit down on the bed and then sat down beside her so the girl was sandwiched in her new family. She felt trapped at this close proximity to the baby and as she looked at it tears welled up in her eyes.

"We were just saying how she's identical to you when you were a baby. She looks just like you," Hermione sighed contentedly. Leshia still remained silent. "Do you want to hold her?" Draco quickly caught Hermione's eye and subtly shook his head; from his vintage point he could see Leshia's face whereas Hermione couldn't. He could see the tears forming in the girl's eyes and the sight of them had dampened his high spirits within moments. Hermione though was insistent.

"Here darling lean back." Powerless to fight her mother Leshia did as she was told and was suddenly being lumbered with the baby girl, who now turned her large dark eyes onto her sister. Leshia stared it in the eye. For a minute at least the sisters sized each other up, one with the innocence of a newborn, the other with the heartbreak of a child misplaced. A tear rolled from Leshia's wide eyes and instantly the baby started to fuss. Now Leshia trembled and she leaned away from the squirming baby in her arms. Hermione quickly took the baby back and tried to console her, but now she had got started the littlest Malfoy was upset.

"Babies cry," Hermione was now telling Leshia comfortingly. The mother was tired and far too delirious with her new child to see that Leshia was entirely out of sorts. Usually so perceptive and attentive her blindness to Leshia's needs was even more noticeable now. Draco though, very aware of his older daughter's turmoil knew not how to console her. He wrapped his arms round her shoulders while another tear fell from her eyes followed by another and then another. Before too long the girl was freely crying and all Draco's best efforts to make it all better had no effect on the girl. Even Hermione noticed when the baby had settled down and with a look contorted in worry she caught her husband's gaze silently pleading with him to make it all work. He shook his head gravely while Leshia's shoulders trembled and she hid her face in the crook of his arm. Nothing was going to make this better in a hurry.

XXX

Later that morning when the news had broken that Professor Granger had had her baby girl and would be leaving a steady throng of well wishers stopped by the hospital wing on their way down to the last breakfast of the year to wish the mother well. Hermione would be transporting home later after a longer stay in the hospital wing while Draco escorted Leshia home on the train.

Their daughter's sudden silence was slightly traumatic to the parents on what ought to have been such a joyous day and try as they might they couldn't get a word out of the girl. Draco was going to find it tremendously hard to be torn away from his wife and new daughter for the duration of the day, so he stopped by the hospital wing right before he was due to set off for the train. Sat beside his beautiful wife with the baby in his arms Draco felt an intense feeling of peace flood his senses.

"She really is beautiful," he sighed, taking in the baby's delicate features.

"What are we going to call her?" Hermione asked fondly. They had been arguing over names for months and hadn't been able to decide. Alecia had been such an easy choice for them and they had both instantly loved it, but this time round they just couldn't decide. Perhaps their being older and wizened had made them more set in their ways. Draco sighed and smiled at his wife.

"You decide," he told her fondly. "You made her after all." Hermione laughed gently.

"Well we both made her, I might have built her but…"

"Stop stalling," Draco chided adoringly, looking back to his daughter's fluttering eyelids. Hermione glanced at the baby with a serene smile and quite suddenly the name came to her.

"Evie." For a moment Draco looked at the baby and let the name roll around in his mind. Somehow it just seemed right.

"Evie it is then." Hermione laughed.

"What you're going to agree. Outright?"

"Evie Malfoy, it's perfect." The proud parents exchanged a beaming smile while in Draco's arms little Evie squirmed a little in her sleep. In the distance a bell was ringing, drawing everyone to the courtyard to board the Threstral driven carriages to the station. Leshia would be waiting.

"I've got to go," Draco sighed and he leaned over and lovingly kissed his wife. "I love you more than ever, you know that?"

"And I love you," she replied with a smile. She took Evie from her husband's arms and allowed him to kiss their baby's head before he climbed to his feet. "Draco, look after Leshia for me." A heavy sigh escaped the father who nodded.

"Just give her time," he said softly. "And don't worry. She'll be fine." Hermione nodded bravely, hugging Evie close to her chest. With this Draco forced himself to leave the hospital wing and jog down to the courtyard. Leshia was nowhere in sight. He only caught sight of her when he wandered past the carriages and saw her slumped in a chair with her friends fallen about her talking in a subdued way. They had an uphill struggled on their hands, all of them, he thought gravely.

The train journey home was a subdued one as Leshia spoke only a handful of words. Her friends' best efforts to cheer her up went in vein and soon they were pulling into King's Cross Station to a wall over waving parents. Katie and Rachel escorted Leshia with all their stuff onto the platform where they met up wither their parents, who had already singled out Draco and were congratulating him on the news.

"We'll see you later on in the week okay Leesh?" Katie told the blonde girl firmly and she pulled her near-catatonic friend into a firm embrace. Leshia hugged her back and nodded into her shoulder.

"Thanks Katie," she whispered earnestly before Katie let her go only to have Rachel hug her firmly.

"If ever you need us you know we'll be there in a flash."

"Or you can come stay whenever you want."

"Yeah _whenever_ you want," Rachel reiterated firmly. Leshia smiled at the girls, the first smile she'd cracked all day.

"I'm going to miss you so much," she said softly. All three girls shed tears when they bid each other farewell. Leshia remained mute almost the entire walk home and Draco didn't push her. He knew she would cope with Evie in her own way, though this didn't make it any easier for him to watch. Once they'd reached their pleasant street Leshia suddenly grew sluggish.

"I know you're going to take a while to get used to your sister Leesh," Draco began gently. "And that's fine, but can we speed it up a little maybe? I _really_ need to go to the toilet." At last a small smile snaked its way on to Leshia's face.

"Well go on then I'm not stopping you," she chuckled. Draco grinned at his daughter and slung his arm around her shoulders.

"I'd never leave you behind." Leshia sighed and rested her head back on his arm. So much had happened in such a short space of time she just didn't know what to think. The summer was looming impossible long ahead of her and with the birth of her sister everything was going to change. Leshia didn't like change, she never had.

"It's going to be all right, you know that right Leshia?" Draco next explained in what he hoped was an understanding tone of voice. His daughter looked him in the eye and neither nodded nor shook her head. Whether it was going to be all right or not in the long run was still undecided, but what was certain, was that it was going to be a pretty bumpy ride in the mean time. Who knew what the new school year would bring?

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The End

So, it's the end! Agh, never thought this day would come (390 A4 pages in all, pretty humongous I have to say). It's all getting a bit serious. Sorry this one was dark, necessary for future developments.


End file.
